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Attempts at signwriting.
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Need a bit of peace and quiet. 10 guys in the house. Lot's of ego friction. Take off to Winchelsea Beach and rent a caravan. Take the train to Croydon once a week & deliver the shields. Live anywhere within 50 miles . . .
Meanwhile hawking the heraldry-on-parchment to local 'arty' shops in Hastings and Winchelsea. Not much. Lot's of backwards and forwards over one customer.
& the Heraldry supply tailing off in the summer.
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SIGNWRITING First attempt -
Meet an old friend taking over a warehouse. Needs a sign painted I choose 'Pump' style because it is very geometric. I can use a ruler & compasses.Then fill-in with paint.
They watch, bemused . . .
"Shaky hand Ha Ha!" "All that beer!" "The artist Ha Ha!" "Yes but it is an art, isn't it?" "20 years to learn it, so I hear."
I heard it too - a story put about by signwriters THEMSELVES - to deter learners.
"Keep it in the family." "Need a brandy to stop the shakes Ha Ha!" Blah . . blah . . blah . . . .
Got through it ok. Trial and error.
Then I thought - why not throw myself in the deep end. Learn it. An ideal back-up for when the heraldry shields decline in the summer. September to January is the only time to earn any decent money.
East London Sign maker ~
Guy there doing large posters for films on huge fluorescent orange paper. He makes it look so easy. Quick light sketches with a pencil, then painting large block letters. Smaller text, and 'one stroke' italic style.
No mistakes of any kind - and no BLOBS! For you can rarely disguise them. That was the mark of the professional.
The sweeper-up stood next to me and dashed off a perfect poster. That knocked me off my perch. He was telling me that I was a learner and there was no money to waste on learners!
Maybe later I thought . . .
My excuse? The journey was a nightmare. Bromley to London Bridge at 7 am. Packed like sardines. Then a bus to Hackney somewhere . . .
Lunch in the only cafe nearby was always packed Waiting ages, & then they have forgotten you!
Then join the crowds and queues for the bus back. Standing in the rain and the train. Then a strike or two. Hours getting back home - 3 hours a day travelling.
Would rather be home painting shields.Even if less money.
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Sometime later ~
Guy in the house wants a van done. 'Octopus' Cleaning Co. The octopus on the bonnet was ok. 2 big eyes, and a mop or a bucket in every tentacle
But the lettering . .
Full of confidence I am, yet when it comes to the actual DOING, it seems indescribably 'finniky'.
YET painting the small heraldic shields is "finnicky"What's the difference ?
The name & motto was the only problem.It had to fit the space available.But if not centered, then you simply wiped it offand do another.
Not possible on a fascia!
So, I am looking for a mathematical 'method' for spacing.
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"Shaky hand Ha Ha!" "All that beer!" "The artist Ha Ha!" "Yes but it is an art, isn't it?" "20 years to learn it, so I hear."
I heard it too - a story put about by signwriters THEMSELVES - to deter learners.
"Keep it in the family." "Need a brandy to stop the shakes Ha Ha!" Blah . . blah . . blah . . . .
Got through it ok. Trial and error.
Then I thought - why not throw myself in the deep end. Learn it. An ideal back-up for when the heraldry shields decline in the summer. September to January is the only time to earn any decent money.
East London Sign maker ~
Guy there doing large posters for films on huge fluorescent orange paper. He makes it look so easy. Quick light sketches with a pencil, then painting large block letters. Smaller text, and 'one stroke' italic style.
No mistakes of any kind - and no BLOBS! For you can rarely disguise them. That was the mark of the professional.
The sweeper-up stood next to me and dashed off a perfect poster. That knocked me off my perch. He was telling me that I was a learner and there was no money to waste on learners!
Maybe later I thought . . .
My excuse? The journey was a nightmare. Bromley to London Bridge at 7 am. Packed like sardines. Then a bus to Hackney somewhere . . .
Lunch in the only cafe nearby was always packed Waiting ages, & then they have forgotten you!
Then join the crowds and queues for the bus back. Standing in the rain and the train. Then a strike or two. Hours getting back home - 3 hours a day travelling.
Would rather be home painting shields.Even if less money.
.............................................
Sometime later ~
Guy in the house wants a van done. 'Octopus' Cleaning Co. The octopus on the bonnet was ok. 2 big eyes, and a mop or a bucket in every tentacle
But the lettering . .
Full of confidence I am, yet when it comes to the actual DOING, it seems indescribably 'finniky'.
YET painting the small heraldic shields is "finnicky"What's the difference ?
The name & motto was the only problem.It had to fit the space available.But if not centered, then you simply wiped it offand do another.
Not possible on a fascia!
So, I am looking for a mathematical 'method' for spacing.
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Talking about "Spacing" - Would you believe THIS !
Churriana Public Library. Next to Malaga airport.
Going left to right, and centering . .
All the letters are different widthsImpossible to calculate where the lettering should start & finish! And
I was copying a "normal" font - "Arial"Small with sharp edges, upper & lower case -when I could have used the easier "Cooper" (see later)
There again, I was copying a recognised font, a task in itself - instead of plain block capital letters.
I wanted to be a perfectionist too soon.Perhaps more repetition. Practice?
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And my knees ached. A million smudges.
A letter standing out from the rest like a sore thumb. Got to be done again . . .
Pointed brushes are no help. Blaming the tools . . .
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Interlude
Then, something else happened - I got into a big accommodation problem & had to leave, nay - fly, with an old girl friend who had just popped up from Plymouth.
No more Shields because of the distance to Croydon.And less money in the summer anyway.
& another job ~ Wrigleys Chewing gum factory outside Plymouth.
And another bar job over Xmas
Then back to London
Then the labouring, as mentioned.
I wanted money in my pocket,not scrimping all the time!
Then that Stillroom job in the hotel.
I wanted an easy job,not hauling bricks!
&
Last but not least:living out in the woods for 3 months"To get away from it all!"
OK for a while. Bonfire and fry ups.Then the September rains.Wet wood.
It was 1977 before I wound up in Brighton, and resumed Heraldry.
It was the nearest situationI could think of, t0
"Financial Independence" and "Painting" !!
(I thought I had arrived . . . )
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