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This is an interactive Bulletin Board on the topics of Sign making, design, fabrication, History, old Books and of coarse Letterheads, Keepers of the craft. The Hand Lettering Forum features links to resources, sign art history, techniques, and artists profiles. Learn more about Letterheads at https://theletterheads.com. Below you'll see Mchat has been added as a live communication portal for trial, and the Main forum Links are listed below.

Search found 225 matches

by Lee Littlewood
Wed Dec 04, 2013 2:13 am
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Magic Eraser for excess gold removal
Replies: 13
Views: 12071

Re: Magic Eraser for excess gold removal

Nice work! If the glass is old glass it makes the gold 'more active' somehow, so don't let a contractor "improve" the transoms if possible. {I once did a series of 2nd floor gold names for a law firm - as LeBlanc says, you don't have to be super accurate, just spell it right. Anyway, when ...
by Lee Littlewood
Tue Dec 03, 2013 12:10 am
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Magic Eraser for excess gold removal
Replies: 13
Views: 12071

Re: Magic Eraser for excess gold removal

..."19 gilded transoms..." How about some pix? Do you have a good chiropractor? "Magic Eraser" - sounds like a good idea; I've never heard of such. But if you are trying to get rid of the little bit of "flash" from gold that wraps around the outlines on a Boston gild - ...
by Lee Littlewood
Mon Dec 02, 2013 12:30 am
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Yet another newbie
Replies: 41
Views: 85258

Re: Yet another newbie

Outstanding...
by Lee Littlewood
Mon Dec 02, 2013 12:30 am
Forum: Hand Lettering Gallery
Topic: Yet another newbie
Replies: 41
Views: 58046

Re: Yet another newbie

Outstanding...
by Lee Littlewood
Sun Dec 01, 2013 2:21 am
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Camoflauge Letters
Replies: 9
Views: 7837

Re: Camoflauge Letters

tn138s30.jpg tn153s30.jpg tn136s30.jpg I'm not sure about the camoflauge wood letters in the catalog, but these skulls have been painted by 'hydro paint'. It is a lot like paper marbling - you float a paint on the surface of water, then dip the material in slowly and the paint will wrap around the ...
by Lee Littlewood
Mon Nov 18, 2013 9:25 pm
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Gatorboard Delamination
Replies: 4
Views: 3688

Re: Gatorboard Delamination

Hmm, more bad news. I have Gatorfoam letters that are 15 years old, exterior, and still looking good. Sounds like something has changed, and not for the better.

Are any of the other 'foamboards' holding up? I remember there was one with a plastic face...
Or do we go back to pink insulating foam?
by Lee Littlewood
Sun Nov 17, 2013 2:23 pm
Forum: Letterhead Events
Topic: 40th Annual International Letterheads Las Vegas NV 2015
Replies: 9
Views: 11155

Re: 40th Annual International Letterheads Las Vegas NV 2015

Umm, is there a time when it's not 'too beastly warm'?

Materials needed:brushes, mahl sticks, walkers.

Can I be on a committee?
by Lee Littlewood
Sun Nov 17, 2013 2:23 pm
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: 40th Annual International Letterheads Las Vegas NV 2015
Replies: 9
Views: 8688

Re: 40th Annual International Letterheads Las Vegas NV 2015

Umm, is there a time when it's not 'too beastly warm'?

Materials needed:brushes, mahl sticks, walkers.

Can I be on a committee?
by Lee Littlewood
Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:26 pm
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Hamilton Wood Type museum
Replies: 1
Views: 2159

Hamilton Wood Type museum

A nice little video on the re-opening of the Hamilton museum shows the sign in progress. The newspaper article mentions the signpainters responsible - nice to see credit given. So tell us, Robare, do you have any photos of the final sign? http://www.htrnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F201310160...
by Lee Littlewood
Fri Sep 20, 2013 2:16 pm
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Looking for good software advice.
Replies: 25
Views: 19683

Re: Looking for good software advice.

(not directly relevant, but still on-topic) When we bought Flexi in 2000 or so, it was Macintosh native. Times have changed, and they recently announced that they will no longer support Mac. So we find ourselves looking around at the possibilities - stay with Flexi and try a PC emulator program, or ...
by Lee Littlewood
Sat Sep 07, 2013 2:29 am
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Black glass
Replies: 12
Views: 9172

Re: Black glass

Is this what LeBlanc called "Carrera Glass"? he said it was good to gild on, for building directories and such. I didn't know it was rare, although it seems it was most fashionable in the 40s/50s. I've seen building fronts in black, blue and a dusty red. I'll bet it is hard to salvage - pr...
by Lee Littlewood
Sat Sep 07, 2013 1:45 am
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Advice
Replies: 6
Views: 4901

Re: Advice

Hi Lee - good name, that. I think you're doomed. If the wax is into the pores of the plywood there is no way to get it out, and I don't know of any solvent-based paint that would not react to it. Maybe an acrylic could bond, but I'm doubtful. Same for shellac. If he had used an oil-based clear (Watc...
by Lee Littlewood
Sat Sep 07, 2013 1:30 am
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: New to sign writing, questions after first try..
Replies: 5
Views: 4914

Re: New to sign writing, questions after first try..

To add one more problem into the mix - I recommend learning how to use a mahl stick. When you are just starting it feels weird, but everything feels weird. The habits you pick up now will last a long time, so look carefully at your videos and a live painter if possible. I find the mahl stick helps m...
by Lee Littlewood
Sat Sep 07, 2013 1:20 am
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: First gild job
Replies: 2
Views: 2740

Re: First gild job

Lorenzo, It looks nice. Is the first letter 1Shot red with gold outline? Then the rest is gold letters with black o/l and shade? Why 2 layers of gold leaf? If there were pinholes in the first layer, using silver or gold for the backup paint would hide them. Also, spinning the gold will hide a multit...
by Lee Littlewood
Sat Sep 07, 2013 1:07 am
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Covering a whole window with 1Shot
Replies: 11
Views: 7971

Re: Covering a whole window with 1Shot

Amen to that, Kent. You can be surprised at how much heat will accumulate in a piece of glass with a big area of any color. I had 5 big picture windows break (they said it sounded like gunshots) one after another when I did a bottom panel of light grey. Even with light grey they got so hot from the ...
by Lee Littlewood
Sun Aug 11, 2013 7:35 pm
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Yet another newbie
Replies: 41
Views: 85258

Re: Yet another newbie

Gobsmacked.

(Vladimir - that is an expression meaning, roughly, "amazed, astounded, dumbfounded".)
by Lee Littlewood
Sun Aug 11, 2013 7:35 pm
Forum: Hand Lettering Gallery
Topic: Yet another newbie
Replies: 41
Views: 58046

Re: Yet another newbie

Gobsmacked.

(Vladimir - that is an expression meaning, roughly, "amazed, astounded, dumbfounded".)
by Lee Littlewood
Sat Aug 03, 2013 7:25 pm
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Pictures of Sweetleaf Espresso glass sign work.
Replies: 10
Views: 7735

Re: Pictures of Sweetleaf Espresso glass sign work.

Sam, Yes, definitely a good thing about all this (he says selfishly) is the chance to see your work. I don't know if I would ever have chanced across it on my own. I ordered the "Essential Guide to Drawing Scrolls" DVD and am looking forward to watching it if the summer will settle down a ...
by Lee Littlewood
Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:22 pm
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: No news?
Replies: 87
Views: 86484

Re: No news?

Starbucks is just now trying Amsterdam? Well, now there will be a couple of places called "cafe", with different products. "Cutting in" the letters by doing the outline&shade first is too hard for me - you really have to know your shapes, and have great brush control. I remem...
by Lee Littlewood
Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:02 pm
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: illustrator question
Replies: 16
Views: 11302

Re: illustrator question

I'm interested too. We have Flexi at the shop but I just have Illustrator at home, and it is amazing how many lettering things Illy doesn't do. In Flexi I would probably go through the corners with the 3point arc tool - two clicks and hit 'enter' - gives great control but gets tedious if you have lo...
by Lee Littlewood
Thu May 23, 2013 2:15 am
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Problem With Water Gilding
Replies: 28
Views: 30594

Re: Problem With Water Gilding

Actually, Andrey, it looks like a nice job of gilding. You are going over acid etched letters on glass, correct? In the first photo there is some nice mirror in back of the letter "S", but not elsewhere. As Robare says, that would indicate that the size has not completely dried - it should...
by Lee Littlewood
Mon May 20, 2013 1:17 pm
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Sign Painter's Fantasy Camp
Replies: 15
Views: 12571

Re: Sign Painter's Fantasy Camp

So what is "fantasy camp"?
Is it like fantasy baseball, where we can pick our team? I pick Rose Oatis as my team n, and the letter "L" as our mascot...
by Lee Littlewood
Fri May 17, 2013 9:44 pm
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Irish Mirrors from Peter Mcullens travels
Replies: 14
Views: 11841

Re: Irish Mirrors from Peter Mcullens travels

I think Mr. Irvine must have been a sunny sort - lots of white space, not much use for thick or dark letters. The Corbetts letter is so inventive and cheerful; a very original form.
by Lee Littlewood
Wed Apr 10, 2013 1:45 am
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Basic set of lettering brushes.
Replies: 6
Views: 7647

Re: Basic set of lettering brushes.

Julio, look at Dick Blick. they used to be a signpainter's supply house, now they are much more about artist supplies but over in a corner they have a few lettering brushes (often called "quills" because the hair is held in a bird quill or, nowadays, a plastic tube) http://www.dickblick.co...
by Lee Littlewood
Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:31 am
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Lefranc original gold size.
Replies: 35
Views: 33351

Re: Lefranc original gold size.

I don't know anything about the L&B 3 hour, have always used Rolco. But I did a test in May 2012 with my "new" L&B 12 hour [sort of a tan label, "Mixtion (gold size) - 12 hours (lead free)" bought in 2010] against my "old" L&B 12 hour (yellow label) from '05...
by Lee Littlewood
Sun Apr 07, 2013 8:20 pm
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Making my own gilder's cushion.
Replies: 17
Views: 16701

Re: Making my own gilder's cushion.

The gilder's cushion seems to be more European than American - Ray LeBlanc does not even mention it, and he is pretty wide-ranging. I made mine when taking a class in manuscript illumination: most of the time you are using pieces about 1/8" square, so being able to cut the leaf up was important...
by Lee Littlewood
Sun Apr 07, 2013 7:16 pm
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: amazing super repellent spray coating
Replies: 3
Views: 4253

Re: amazing super repellent spray coating

It is a cool video - I especially like the boots jumping in mud. But there is not an awful lot of hard information on how it works or how long it lasts, and the price is considerable. Here is another take on it. Still loosey-goosey on how it works, but better: http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technol...
by Lee Littlewood
Fri Apr 05, 2013 2:02 am
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Help! Oil-base chalkboard paint discontinued
Replies: 5
Views: 4145

Re: Help! Oil-base chalkboard paint discontinued

In some old book there was a mention of making blackboard paint by adding pumice to regular oil-based paint. I don't know how much would give you a good tooth, and I think you would want to get the powder wet with thinner before mixing it into the paint. We've had good results with Benjamin Moore ch...
by Lee Littlewood
Fri Apr 05, 2013 1:53 am
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Jameson Whiskey Limited Edition Bottle and glass
Replies: 11
Views: 9824

Re: Jameson Whiskey Limited Edition Bottle and glass

What I like is the two signatures - one on the frame seems to say "John Jameson &Son" and the one in the middle of the piece says "David Smith".

What is the proper British response: "Veddy good show" or "Gobsmacked"?
by Lee Littlewood
Fri Apr 05, 2013 1:11 am
Forum: The Hand Lettering Forum
Topic: Arthur Vanson
Replies: 2
Views: 2883

Re: Arthur Vanson

Oh No! I was just corresponding with him in February and he mentioned nothing. While a bit off-topic, I think this audience might appreciate what we were discussing. On his website he had this statement: "I think most British signwriters will have been influenced by the enormous talent of Cecil...