Now Is the Best Time to Learn

“Between Letterhead meetings, Internet bulletin boards, sign magazines and so many information sources, it’s a great time to be a traditional signwriter,” said David Kynaston, a Llangollen, North Wales-based signwriter. “I really didn’t have any interest in the computer-made signs. I just like to paint.

“I’m very traditional in my ways,” Kynaston said. “All my signs are handlettered. Vinyl is of no interest to me. But my style is well-known, and I’m booked roughly a year in advance.”

The 72 x 48.75-in. “Wharf” sign was handpainted with 1Shot enamels. “I really don’t like copying others’ work, because I want to achieve original artwork wherever possible.” However, the customer wanted this sign to list products on the sign, “but with a Victorian feel.”

Stymied with a design “block,” Kynaston opened Atkinson’s Art of Sign Painting (ST Books, www.stmediagroup.com/stbooks, offers Atkinson Plates Reproduced in Color) for inspiration. “I’m not saying which plate I used, because it would be interesting for readers to find it themselves, but this is by no means a copy.”

He used lettering brushes to blend the colors for the ribbon and fitches for the roses, and an airbrush for the vermillion centers and black letters in the lozenge panels.

Advertisement

“Be bold, in color and design. Make customers love their signs,” Kynaston advised.