So how do you learn to letter by hand?

[SignManiac]

Signmaniac, We were getting $350 - $600 for a 4x8 over 30 years ago. One like that would have been well over $800.

That's awesome JDB, and where it should be priced at. I had just moved to Florida and every sign guy I met said I was full of sh$t and nobody would pay for good work. Well I've been proving them wrong for the past 20 years )

Sorry Pat, didn't mean to jack your thread... Spend good money on your brushes. I used French Masters for most of my lettering career.

 

[artsnletters]

the way i practiced when i was a young man was on a piece of glass. the old timers would start me out painting straight lines and then the halves of a circle and then eventually the alphabet. in the beginning i would literally trace over their letters by putting them on the backside of the glass and then when done scrape it off and do ti again and again and again and again and again....

but by all means if you can get someone to work side by side with you that knows the tricks of the trade it is much better than doing it alone (in my opinion)

i agree...glass is best. I would use an old mini truck back window and paint the back black, then lightly scribe away a set of lines to use as the baselines usually 2 or 3 inches apart, and letter away. Othertimes using the clear glass and laying a printed piece to emulate underneath. I was lucky enough to have an old sign painter hand letter me an alphabet in casual script on glass that i practiced on forever. There is a book called Sign Painting techniques By Ralph Gregory.

http://www.amazon.com/Sign-Painting...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276205028&sr=1-1

Also this book is killer:
http://www.amazon.com/Logo-Letterin...=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276204988&sr=1-7

Tim

 

[Gino]

Yeah, ain’t it the truth ?? Back in the 60’s and throughout the 70’s everyone was getting $450 to $700 a panel. No one came in with their nephew’s logo or dinky little logos or artwork. They’d all say, you know what to do, now work your magic.

You had $24. for a double sided duraply panel, about $4. for prime and several top coats both sides and about 75¢ worth of lettering enamel and your time….several hours of char-coaling in and painting. Wet on wet in places to save time and an orchestrated plan as to which colors first and when.

As the computers came on board, for some reason the cost of production went sky high, but the boards and truck letters came way down in price. Now, we’re all in over our head in coast and no one can do without the proverbial computer and we’re all scraping for a dime.

Not that I’d like to go backwards I time, but I wish some people could wrap their heads around what this industry could really do for them if they were really good at the trade. Everything has gone up in cost…. Everything, except signs. Explain that to me. I guess that GWB’s fault, too.

Anyway, once you learn the ins and outs of hand painting… even if you don’t get proficient at it… you’ll have a deeper appreciation for the field and somehow a better understanding of layout. As you study letter forms… most of those books will have side lines about layout and composition.

Last, don’t be afraid to build your letters. Not everything has to be done in one stroke. Many hand painters will build their strokes and even palette a little bit on the sign themselves besides palleting your brush on a pad.

Good Luck…………………

 

[OldPaint]

call me and come spend a day or 2............and ill show ya what i know............for free.
just bring a desire to learn............ and commit to bout a good 2 years of leaning on your own. this stuff dont happen over nite, for those of us who have to work at it.

 

[bob]

I worked with a couple of old masters. I watched. For years, I watched.

Practice.

Have a go at lettering anything that isn't moving. I used to do alphabets on the shop windows. Wipe them off, and do it again. And again. And again.

Practice.

Learn what letters actually look like. Most people really don't know. They think they do but they don't. For example, the top shoulder of an 'A' is more than one brush stroke wide, i.e, it's wider than either vertice.

Practice.

Learn to let the brush make the letter. One vertice should be one stroke, or one on each side width depending. A vertice should be ever so slightly concave.

Practice.

Develop a good script, a casual, a sans serif, and a roman alphabet. Everything is but a variation on one of these.

Practice.

Hand lettering is a learned skill and discipline. Anyone can learn to do it. It requires no innate talent whatsoever, just a pant-load of time.

Practice.

 

[Pat Whatley]

In 1987 I was offered a job in a sign shop as an apprentice to an unbelievable painter. I turned it down because every sign guy I'd ever met was an alcoholic shoplifter stealing materials from the art supply store I worked in plus I was in college for advertising so the sign business was beneath me.

Four years later I was working in a sign shop running a Gerber 4b and having a ball. The longer I've gone the more I've kicked myself for missing the opportunity to learn to paint.

 

[artsnletters]

Here you go Pat. A $1,500 4'x8' painted sign on MDO done twenty years ago. Back when everyone said it was impossible to get more than $200 for a plywood sign. All hand lettered, airbrushed and hand spun 23k gold leaf. Totally flat sign done with 1-Shot lettering enamel.

A couple of weeks of practice and you should be able to knock one of these out in no time. Enjoy the brush and most of all, have fun!

Really, a couple of weeks? Absolutely beautiful work. Love the gold leaf. Bitchen example of brush work and design going hand in hand...pun intended.
Tim

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

When I went to school .... Speedball book ..charcoal pencils for drawing letters .. # 8 lettering quill, thinner, lettering paint, pallets, tin can, table to letter on and paper or glass to make it tougher but you can remove easier.

Draw letters ..till you draw each letter 3 times same and hand letter as in Speedball book (block, thick & thin, casual) then roman serif and script letter over and over till correct and consistent
Which means alot of practice it takes about 5 to 10 years depends how much you in real hand letter.

Will gladly teach in person or not sure how online effectively

 

[round man]

get a speedball lettering book from that art supply you worked at 1st,...then go to the library and check out any textbooks you can find,...C.H. Johnstons text on lettering and illumination is a bit old but has all the letter-forms you might need,..another is by Helm Wotzkow and is an excellent text on lettering,..read them and any other good books you can find on the subject then start practicing,...keep practicing,....practice some more,...then do some more practicing,...did I say it involved practice? well then let me be certain I did,....it takes alot of practice,...and then some more,....after a couple of years daily practice,...almost anyone who knows their "abc" and ten numbers can call themselves a sign painter,....oh yea,...one more thing ,...practice lettering

 

[FatCat]

This thread is AWESOME!!!!

Now I've got the itch to try.

 

[FatCat]

This thread is AWESOME!!!!

Now I've got the itch to try.

 

[ChiknNutz]

Oh, REEeexx...how come you've not chimed in yet? You've got a heckuva lot of experience to add here oh buddy oh pal!

 

[Rick]

A fat, crabby old man, with a bad ticker, who smokes and drinks too much, that talks way too much about the glory days is supposed to belittle you into it... and thats only after cleaning his brushed for a few years...

This was brought up before and some scoffed at it.. I believe there is some good stuff on here... worth a serious look.
http://www.learn2paintsigns.com/

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

For those of you interested in learning how to letter ...great ..it's a wonderful way to relax and just enjoy the ways and means of control of the brush, yes as you letter and get better it also becomes more enjoyable when you use your newly found skill to letter names or words for friends and others even just for fun which most will do ...when I went to school out of 20 people in class... 3 of us earned a living, most of the rest dropped out, one went on to be a award winner and still very much is also now teaches advance courses
So I guess this shows ya how much effort and determination one needs to make a living at this.. but for hobby and fun and long term enjoyment .. besides it really helps hand and eye coordination

 

[sjm]

I've got lettering brushes.
I've got lettering paint.
I've got paint materials.

Now I just need some basic instructions. Any books, videos, or websites you can suggest?

Creativity takes no prisoners. Though first you need to be creative.

 

[Arlo Kalon 2.0]

Speaking purely from my own experience, I can only describe wanting to hand letter as an addiction. I found myself craving practice and looking for any excuse to have a brush in my hand. During the first year of my marriage, I had a small easel set up in our dining room. Our small university apartment always was heavy with the aroma of 1 Shot and turps. I was apprenticing then at an established sign shop, coming home at the end of the day, and promptly going to work at my easel emulating what I had seen the master painters doing all day. Sometimes, after working til well past midnight (caught up in the sign painting zone), I had to remind myself I had a hot young bride already in bed. Such was the pull learning hand lettering exerted on me.

I wouldn't hesitate to say that if you don't find yourself wanting to routinely practice creating letters off the tip of a brush, you probably won't make it to the end. If instant gratification is your thing - give up now. Awhile back I posted a link to a video about learning wall doggin'. In it, a couple of young apprentice sign painters are discussing the master painter. They each talk of being at least a couple of years away from being able to do the job on their own. They say it like they are looking forward to those couple of years with a great deal of exuberance. I can relate to that since it is how I learned (and was constantly reminded I was a few years away from being a full fledged sign painter). By beginning to learn hand lettering on your own, are you ready to accept that a sellable piece may be out of your reach for at least a couple of years? I'm not asking this to dissuade anyone from this pursuit. I'm approaching my remarks from the standpoint of a proper mindset to have as others have adequately pointed out various practice routines.

The pull of hand lettering is timeless. Over the years I have read numerous stories of sign painters who never retired, with quite a few working still in their 90's. Indeed, why give it all up to do whatever retired people do when hand lettering is infinitely more fulfilling? I'd say to find yourself ever living out your days doing this exclusively now would necessitate the development of a successful niche in your local market. Whereas this used to be the norm in this business, it is now so rarely heard of many of you on this forum never had any exposure to it whatsoever. I remain convinced that learning sign painting was/is the best inroad to the sign profession - if for no other reason than the creativity it brings out in your layout efforts. I sincerely wish I could work side by side with anyone desiring to pursue this. Until then, I can only wish you the best of luck.

 

[sjm]

Can you hand cut vinyl? I mean that we the sincerest of respect.

 

[Billct2]

I was fortunate to attend Butera Sign School in Boston for a year.
Lots of good advice here, glass is great with a sample on paper underneath to follow.
But the best place to start as Dan said is with the basic building block of the letter forms, straight lines horizontal & vertical, half circles left & right, and the smaller half circles that make S P B etc. Once you get the feel for the right pressure and pull start on complete letters.
I admire anyone willing to learn the craft now, I doubt I would have the patience or persistance. I learned because I had to if I wanted to make signs.

 

[Just Another Sign Guy]

sjm i know many people that are forced to handcut vinyl when they need an object outside of the size of their machine (say a 40" circle when you only have a 30" plotter) instead of paneling when it is such a simple task.

but i don't know of anyone that is regularly handcutting vinyl letters, i have on occasion cut a large A or something again because it is so simple and a better alternative for the project than paneling.

when my family's shop first bought vinyl sign cutting equipment in the 80's we would regularly project an image onto vinyl and handcut it as the equipment at the time would only allow us to cut lettering, so if we wanted an image of a house we either had to paint it or hand cut it out of vinyl. in some cases it was just better to do the whole project out of vinyl.

 

[Arlo Kalon 2.0]

I admire anyone willing to learn the craft now, I doubt I would have the patience or persistance. I learned because I had to if I wanted to make signs.

You doubt you would have the patience or persistence now I assume because you know a push a button method is available to create signs? I too learned how to hand paint because that was the only way to create signs back then. I addressed my former post to the mindset required to help people decide if it was really something they wanted to pursue in this age of instant computer production. I liken anyone becoming a full fledged sign painter anymore to an ancient Hindu saying "out of a thousand, one seeks me. Out of a thousand who seek me, one finds me". Hopefully, the odds are better than that, but you catch my drift. I myself know I probably would never have devoted the effort if a Gerber Signmaker had been available when I was starting out. But I have fond memories of getting to ride the wave of being the highest paid guy in a the big sign shops, back when sign painters were called on for every task up to and including making hand patterns for construction of big electric signs. My hat is off to anyone wanting to pay homage to this fine trade by deciding to hand letter in this digital era.