Tips from 55 years of sign painting

Back when every sign was hand painted every day, sign painters were expected to do a job right the first time, as efficiently as possible. You couldn’t make a career out of each project. That meant you had to know every shortcut in the book that would give you good results and keep your time on the job to a minimum.

Besides having the ability to do interesting, legible layouts quickly, you had to know how to get the most out of the paint. You needed ways to avoid or minimize double-coating, make your paint flow out with few visible brush strokes and to have it work well in the brush.

For much of my career, I had the opportunity to letter 300 to 400 vehicles per year. I was fortunate to have mentors who taught me how to maximize my results while minimizing the time I spent on each job. Letter it once, make it opaque for maximum visibility, and get it out the door and on to the next truck! I thought I’d pass along a few of the things I learned along the way about getting the most out of lettering enamel.