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Golden West

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

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Dave Dubé
Posts: 45
Joined: Thu Apr 09, 2009 11:03 am
Location: Helena, MT

Golden West

Post by Dave Dubé »

Some weeks back, it was suggested that I post a picture of what I'm doing with the sign artist skills that I developed over forty years ago. This was a recent piece of paper that I acquired through a friend from an Antique Mall. I don't like exploring malls for my old paper because I have to pay the price as listed for any piece that I buy. Most brick & mortar dealers in old paper are willing to offer some kind of a discount if you're buying more than one.

The idea here is that I'm looking for old paper that I can put my art work on. Just like the nature of the exhibit at the Huntington, I'm interested in the advertising art and packaging that existed in this country from the turn of the century into the early Forties. If the ad or package didn't sell the product, it didn't sell, so consequently, companies went out of their way to find artists willing to give them what they wanted - GOOD ART.

I found a product called PVA, available on the web from LINECO, Books By Hand: http://www.booksbyhand.com

It's really sweet. It yields a good raise, can be applied with a brush, or thinned (with distilled water) and applied with a pen. I did the lettering in three passes with the PVA after letting each dry. I then used a paper straw (more about that in a minute) to breath on a couple of the letters at a time, and laid 23K Swift surface leaf. The reason for the paper straw was to eliminate the chance of drooling through the straw on the paper when I activated the size. A light burnish and putting the paper on a light table revealed some small areas that I needed to reapply the gold, but I simply did the reactivating size thing, and relaid the gold where I needed it.

So - Closset & Devers was a Portland firm that sold coffee, tea and spices, and their coffee was packed either in cans or jars. The jar labels were stone litho, and the cowgirl exists in a couple of different varieties, both with and without a steaming cup of coffee. The one I used for a model here was just a pretty, smiling face.

Just last week I got a call from a local candy shop - the business has been in the same location since 1922, and recently changed hands. The young couple that purchased the business want a letterhead and billhead - vintage style - which is exactly what I'm going to give them.
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Golden West Cowgirl
Golden West Cowgirl
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