It's a Sign!

[Andrew]

Hi all,

Last November, I went on Joby Carter's excellent week-long signwriting course and, since then, I've knocked up a handful of signs, with more on the way. Naturally, some have a railway theme - here's my latest example:

To the trains sign.jpg (217.94 KiB) Viewed 183 times

It's a tricky art to master, and with a san-serif font and no shading etc, there's nowhere for mistakes to hide! Nonetheless, I'm pleased with how it turned out...

I plan to put it up outside, and wonder whether anyone could off any advice on varnish? There seem to be two, opposing, schools of thought - either that varnish helps protect the sign, or that it doesn't, because the weather gets underneath and causes it to deteriorate faster. Any thoughts?

The sign is made of exterior ply and softwood mouldings, treated with Cuprinol wood preserver, and painted with stuff intended for garden use.

I think I might try and do some fancy carriage style lettering next, maybe "FIRST CLASS", although double letters are a challenge, because it's glaringly obvious when they're different, and it's really hard to get "S"s to come out the same!

Cheers,

Andrew

[-steves-]

That's really good, sign writing has always been a skill I have envied, simply because it's something that I have tried and just can not do, well done

[ge_rik]

That looks excellent, Andrew.
I'll have a word with my signwriter mate in the village to find out how he protects his handiwork.

Rik
PS Particular congratulations on the S. I'll bet that letter can be a signwriter's nemesis

[Andrew]

That's really good, sign writing has always been a skill I have envied, simply because it's something that I have tried and just can not do, well done

Thanks Steve! A week of intensive expert tuition definitely helps!

[Andrew]

That looks excellent, Andrew.
I'll have a word with my signwriter mate in the village to find out how he protects his handiwork.

Rik
PS Particular congratulations on the S. I'll bet that letter can be a signwriter's nemesis

Thanks Rik! And yes, I'd really appreciate it it if you could ask your friend, thank you!

"S"s are hard to draw - and I am drawing the letters out by hand at the moment as practice, although I could "cheat" and print them on a computer. Joby's "Old School" - he doesn't allow the use of masking tape either! I find curvy letters easier to paint than straight ones - you can kind of just let the brush do the work, whereas following a straight line accurately is harder, and the results less forgiving...

[Peter Butler]

Excellent work Andrew, it's a skill which deserves to be preserved. Few can match the wonderful artwork associated with the fairgrounds but Joby is a master craftsman and is passing on his experience. I hope the course was well attended.

[philipy]

Brilliant Andrew. I've tried my hand a few times but never been very happy with the results.

[ge_rik]

I'd really appreciate it if you could ask your friend, thank you!

Hi Andrew
Sorry about the delay, but I've not seen him recently and it seems he doesn't check his emails regularly.

His reply ......

Hi Rik if he has used good enamel paint it does not need Varnish , the Varnish becomes Brittle after so long and starts to come off
He has made a brilliant job of it. Peter

Peter was a professional signwriter (and artist) and quite of few of the shop signs in the neighbourhood are his handiwork. They've been there for years so he presumably knows what he's talking about.

Rik

[Andrew]

Brilliant, thanks Rik!

Not having a separate workshop, I can't use enamel paints, on account of the need to avoid filling the house with white spirit fumes. I'm using "Alphakrylik", a water-based substitute, but it's supposed to have the same qualities as enamel in terms of coverage and durability, so I'm going to go varnish-less and see what happens. The downside of acrylic is that it doesn't replicate the glorious gloss sheen on enamel - which is where varnish could help. Not much of a problem on this utilitarian sign, but it would notice on something flashier...

I'm very grateful for your friend's kind words about my efforts too - that means a lot!

Thanks again,

Andrew.