The Oliver/Hart Red River Special Thresher restoration project.

This is a project I worked on with Brian Manning from Heritage Park here in Calgary. I was responsible for re-creating the lettering / decals and stencils. It was a very interesting project to work on as it involved hand letter / stencil work and re-creating the decals. The lettering was still visible, although quite faded, but the stenciled lettering and decals were almost non existing. With some help from the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in the way of reference photos from an Oliver Thresher they had in their collection, I had what I needed to put it all together. Here are some photos of the finished Thresher.

 

The above photo is a  screen shot from my computer, showing how I start to re-build the decal from the photo underlay. Because the fonts used for the original decals aren't available, I used a font that was close, and manipulated the letters in my software to match the photo underlay. I used the same process for both decals.

 This is a screen shot of the finished artwork without the final colors.

 The finished decals with the final colors. Ready for the printer. Thanks

Moving along on the Aultman Taylor Decal project

Well I finally managed to a start on my sample board today. I want to work out the colors and details of the artwork before tackling the actual artwork, it'll  me save a lot of grief in the long run. I decided working in oils, so I want to get a base down and let it dry before adding the detail and shading. I'm using fast drying oils, so it should be ready shade and detail tomorrow. This is just a sample, so I'm not going to worry about turning it into a finished piece. I've painted the background the color of the tractor, so I  have a better sense of how the colors will look in the end. I've also included some photos of other decals that I have for reference. More to come.

Sign Painter Documentary update

I just thought I would post an up-date for the Sign Painter Documentary that I've been working on. I'm getting ready to do the final two interviews and then start the editing. If everything goes right, I should have it ready for Christmas. It has been a great journey so far, meeting and interviewing people that made their living painting signs. Listening to their stories and how working as a sign painter shaped their lives has made the project a worthwhile endeavor. I'm sure you'll find it as interesting as I have. For those of you who might not have seen the video clips, I've posted them below.

Painting signs for film and display

I was thinking of doing some step by step blogs on painting signs for film and display.  I'm not sure how much interest there is, but would be willing to do some projects and explain the process as I go. If you're interested, I'll put some projects together. Here are a couple of examples of signs done for film and display. The process I use really depends on the film or client.

 The two above pictures show the sign first painted and then after the aging process.

The pictures above are of signs that were painted for movies.
                                                  

 This sign was painted to look 3 dimensional for a display. The sign is painted on MDO with water-based paints. Most of the signs I do for film and display are done with water-based paints. Please let me know if you're interested by becoming a follower or posting a comment. Thank you

1926 Case Steam Traction Engine

Here's some photos of a Case Traction Engine I recently lettered and striped. It was part of the Heritage Park collection here in Calgary. Once again I had very little in the way of reference to go from. It was quite a challenge to work on between the hot weather / weird angles and oil running down some parts. I did the job while the park was open, so had a lot of  people watching and asking questions. It's always a lot of fun working in a public place.

The Aultman Taylor Decal re-creation project

I'm just in the early stages of a very exciting project and thought I would share it with you. I was asked by the Reynolds-Alberta Museum to re-create a decal from the Aultman Taylor Equipment Company for a tractor they just finished restoring. The Reynolds-Alberta Museum is a world class transportation, aviation, agriculture and industry Museum from the 1890s to the present.  I thought I would document the process to give people an idea of what is involved in re-creating a decal with this level of detail . The graphic will be hand painted and then scanned into a computer so it can be reproduced as decals. I love this type of period work because it challenges all my skills as an Artist. Hope you enjoy the ride. I'm enclosing the Reynold-Alberta Museum link to give you an idea of what they are all about.
                                                   http://history.alberta.ca/reynolds/
 Here are some photos of  the layout / color study and reference photos. The first sketch was provided by the Museum. There are no decals available for reference so this is what I have to work with. I'll post photos as I progress through the project.

                                                                 

                                                         
                                                                   

          

                 

Welcome to my Hand Lettering Blog.

I decided I would start a blog to talk about something I'm very passionate about... hand lettering. This has been a passion of mine for the last 33 years and will be for as long as I can hold a brush. In a time when hand lettering is quickly becoming a lost art, I find myself hand lettering more than ever. The film industry / museums / historic groups and collectors all seem to have a need for my skills. Lately I've been called on to hand paint ghost signs ( a faded weathered looking sign) on brick walls and other surfaces, for the retail and restaurant industry. With my background in scenic painting for film, it's the perfect marriage of two skills. This is my first attempt with a blog, so bear with me while I work it out. Over the next couple of weeks I'll be adding more projects and photos to the blog, so drop by and see what's new. Please feel free to add your comments or become a follower. Thanks for taking the time to drop by.