Welcome to The Hand Lettering Forum!
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.

Restored glass signs for pub

Hand Lettering topics: Sign Making, Design, Fabrication, Letterheads, Sign Books.

Moderators: Ron Percell, Mike Jackson, Danny Baronian

Post Reply
DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

Restored glass signs for pub

Post by DAVE SMITH »

Merry Christmas you guy's! Just going to have some Christmas turkey so I'll make this quick.
I ment to show you these finished signs a few weeks back ,they were installed about a week ago ,one is 160 inches long and the other 120''s.
These were originally outside the pub. I made them about 10 years ago, they just had a simple one colour shade to the letters the first time I made them.
This time the scrolls were changed on the ends to a more caligraphic scroll and I brush blended the shades on the letters to make the signs look a little more interesting I also as you can see added some drop shadows to give it a feeling of jumping off. I was a little bit tight for space , so some of these angles to the shades look a bit odd but it adds a little character to the signs. The end panels were seperate and matched the previous mirrors I made for the walls.
Instead of striping all the mirrors next time on a job like this it would be probably easier to start with fresh glass and also you would have a chance to re-design things 10 years on. They read (Licensed Victuallers and Purveyors of Quality Beers Fine Wines and Spirits ) They look nice in the pub and the landlord was happy they were installed in time for the Christmas break.
Have a good Christmas! don't eat too much!
Dave
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Wayne Osborne
Posts: 165
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 2:03 am
Location: West Sussex.England

Post by Wayne Osborne »

Now there's a Christmas treat for them Dave- Nice one!
Patrick Mackle
Posts: 478
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2004 10:21 am
Location: Monrovia, Ca.
Contact:

Post by Patrick Mackle »

Very nice Dave. I'm sure they would be even more delightful viewed in person across the rim of a pint.
Pat
Larry White
Posts: 1213
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2004 4:18 am

Nice....very nice!

Post by Larry White »

Hey Dave!
Do you do the installation of these signs, sub-contract the installation to others, or is it the responsibility of the customer?

You're the King of decorative glass!! Crikey!

-LW
DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

Post by DAVE SMITH »

Thanks! Pat and Wayne, a pint sure does sound good. Larry If you could see what I am about to wear for a fancy dress party for Saturday night I think you would probably think I am a queen as apposed a king. There are so many of us doing work like this that I rate as Kings and look up to them including you ,so thanks for that. I sometimes think I post my work to often but this is a website where we all learn and share what we do like yourself. It's nice to share it with like minded people,some of the people who drink in the pubs don't appreciate reverse glass and they never will but there are allot that do understand it. As for fitting these type of signs I would call a friend and I would help as best I could. I hate fitting! Well did you guy's have a good Christmas? I'm full of chocolate right now.
Been dragged around all the clothes sales by my girls today, I hate shopping too! I was wondering if it had stopped snowing at Bernhardt house, he's probably trapped. anyone know?
Dave
vance galliher
Posts: 321
Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2004 11:38 pm
Location: springfield, or.
Contact:

Post by vance galliher »

Dave, never think you post too much of your work here. I assure you there are many like myself that anxiously open every post you make, hoping to see more of your awesome work and read whatever information you have to share.......so thank you,......keep it coming...and have a great new year !
DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

Post by DAVE SMITH »

Thanks Vance. You have a great new year also.
Dave
Craig Sjoquist
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Dec 24, 2007 4:09 pm
Location: Orlando, Florida
Contact:

wow

Post by Craig Sjoquist »

over the the top beautiful wow

Happy New Year
happy as a dog chasing squirrel
DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

Post by DAVE SMITH »

Thanks Craig.
Jerry Berg
Posts: 369
Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 3:17 pm
Location: pacific northwest

Post by Jerry Berg »

Dave, those are absolutely beautiful. Very inspiring. Please keep posting, cant get enough!
Doug Bernhardt
Posts: 1077
Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2004 9:29 am
Location: Ottawa Canada
Contact:

Post by Doug Bernhardt »

Dave....a real sweet one there....but did you add the brilliant cut sections now?....or did you cut them back then? And also which/who's pub is this for?
DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

Post by DAVE SMITH »

Doug.I made these cut pieces about a month ago to match in with some wall cutting panels,these long chipped signs were once on the outside of the pub called the Clocktower.
The owner decided to have some electric canvas blinds installed for the smokers, he had the glass signs taken down and placed in frames and re-fitted inside the pub. I extended them to fit the full width of the side parts to the bar with cut panels either side.
Dave
Kelly Thorson
Posts: 502
Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2004 11:53 pm
Location: Penzance, SK Canada
Contact:

Post by Kelly Thorson »

Beautiful work as always Dave. Your work always makes me itch to learn more.
I believe there is no shame in failure. Rather, the shame lies in the loss of all the things that might have been, but for the fear of failure.
DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

Post by DAVE SMITH »

Thanks Kelly. I have a restoration piece on at the moment (Turkish Cigarettes) I wish I had never taken it on, real learning curve to this one. It's a real boring piece and very time consuming lots of flaking going on, I told the customer I would be better off completely striping the glass as it's just not worth doing it . Nearly finished my Morris Minor Van, I will post a few pics of the glass signs inside it once I'm done.
Dave
Bobbie Rochow
Posts: 79
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2005 6:18 pm
Location: Jamestown,PA

Post by Bobbie Rochow »

Wow, those letters look like you can reach out & grab them! That is SOOO beautiful!

Looking at it creates an ache in your heart to do this!
Larry White
Posts: 1213
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2004 4:18 am

Post by Larry White »

Hey Dave... could you give a brief explanation of the steps you employed to execute these letters?

Image

As I see it, glue chipped and gilded, that's pretty straight forward. Then there's a blended shade of maroon into light gray (?), followed by a shade of black, then a shade of dark blue, against the lighter blue background.

I guess my question would be; How did you execute the blended shade, I would've employed an outline around the letter (and the shade) enclosing the area to do the blend. But you did not. How did you do it?
:?:
DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

Post by DAVE SMITH »

Hi Larry.
Yes, chipped and glass gilded then hand painted on the back of the gold allowing for a glowline - cleaned off the excess gold, then marked the front of the glass where my shades were going to be with a pen paint marker .I painted in the entire blue background leaving an area of clear glass as the shadow ,once the blue was dry I put the next blue shade in (darker) then the black and finally blend in the 3 colours.
Hope this helps mate.
Dave

Image
Larry White
Posts: 1213
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2004 4:18 am

Post by Larry White »

That was about the only way I could figure it, so at least I was on the right track. Thanks for the explanation.

-WB
DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

Post by DAVE SMITH »

Larry as you know you can also do it the other way of painting in your black line first and then the darker blue line and then blend your shades leaving the background to be painted last.
By doing it this way you could also distress the background all over the back of the text without worrying abput clear shade areas.
Dave
James Kelly
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon May 15, 2006 1:32 pm
Location: Ireland
Contact:

Post by James Kelly »

Stunning workyet again, Dave. A belated Happy New Year yo you and everyone else on here.
James Kelly
DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

Post by DAVE SMITH »

Nice one James same to you mate.
Dave
Robert Schwieger
Posts: 123
Joined: Wed Feb 07, 2007 12:38 pm
Location: Nebraska

Post by Robert Schwieger »

Hello,

Great work and visuals as usual. Do you airbrush the blend?

Keep up the great postings.

Bob
DAVE SMITH
Posts: 1213
Joined: Sat Jul 10, 2004 11:12 am
Location: ENGLAND

Post by DAVE SMITH »

Hello Robert.
The blends are painted with a brush. I feel if an airbrush is used it looks wrong.
It seems to look more authentic hand blended, I was taught to hand blend while doing my apprentiship - it's the way the old guy's used to make these signs.
Airbrushing gives a nice transition for backgrounds but for lettering I prefer to hand blend Robert.
Dave
joe cieslowski
Posts: 338
Joined: Sun Apr 11, 2004 6:15 pm
Location: east canaan ct
Contact:

Post by joe cieslowski »

I kinda follow the process you use and appreciate the complexity and skills involved. WOW! The end result always blows my mind. Awesum!!! :D

Thanks for sharing.

Joe
Makin Chip$ and Havin Fun!
Kent Smith
Posts: 569
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2004 6:41 pm
Location: Estes Park, CO
Contact:

Post by Kent Smith »

I agree with Dave, the blending looks best when done with a brush and you can work it on glass until it looks good. Besides, the final appearance is more traditional which is best for restoration or reproduction. For those who have not done this type of blend before, you can place a mirror so that you can watch your progress as you work the color to the right blend.

Another thought, some color backgrounds tend to be somewhat transparent or translucent. In order to do the background first, it is wise to opaque it before doing the next steps including blending. Over paint may not show much initially but can burn through in UV. The easiest way to do so is to dust the background once it arrives at a tack, with aluminum powder. If you blend the background and it is not even enough to dry to a good tack to dust, let it dry and do a quick coat of clear fast size, then dust at its tack. We also used to use lampblack and other dark color powders as well as bronze powder. An additional coat of color or black will sometimes opaque the color, sometimes not, that is why dusting works best and is quick and easy to do.
Post Reply