Hand Painted Signs for Miles

Have you noticed that more and more companies are going for hand painted signs for their businesses these days?  They are popping up in unexpected places all around us, especially here in Los Angeles. From storefronts to hand painted awnings to 15 story painted billboard ads... there is a type of business that wants to reflect a certain type of craftsmanship and attention to detail that a hand painted sign offers to their customers.  I feel this is a really positive shift, (I may have a horse in the race...) as it seeks to balance out the numbing saturation, scale and overall repetition of glossy mass produced advertising images our eyes see in a given day.  It suggests that one slows down for a moment and take notice of the details around us.  But why?  Because a person (a crazy person?) took the time to dip a paintbrush into a bunch of different colors to create a brief experience, a suggestion, a feeling out of nothing?  Yes.  That's why.

I have had the pleasure to work with an interesting variety of Clients to develop, design and hand paint signs for their businesses.  It truly is one of my favorite things to do in the world!  I have had a chance to work on signs for so many lovely folks over the past few months.  I thought I would post a sampling of my favorites...

 

 

 

 Design-wise I have worked in two capacities.  Some of my clients have a logo design and simply need the skilled hand of a sign painter to paint it with some minor design solutions or color accents.  Other times I get to really dig in and get super creative from start to finish with my own designs, lettering choices, custom-cut shapes, color palettes, etc.

Sometimes it's a textured wall...

 ... a perfectly smooth one...

... or a custom cut substrate. 

 

A hand painted sign shows evidence of hours of time, skill and concentration, and because of that conveys a certain type of warmth.  While it certainly is not the fastest method, it is a symbol that even in this busy world some things are still best made by hand. 

Coming Soon to Grand Central Market!

 

 I've been working with Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles 

on several signs for their upcoming vendors to the market.  Pizza, cheese, oysters,

meat and more!  The market is making a really impressive transformation,

making downtown LA a real food destination again. I'm so honored to

be a part of it.

 

Living the dream.  Obscuring my paint encrusted fingernails.

Rise and Shine, yall!

 Got to paint this blue ombre with 6 ft. tall letters on two 

nice, big walls at the office of Omelet in Culver City.

 

 

 

  

When it comes to painting a blue fade 45 feet long,

things get pretty Zen, fast! It was a fun challenge

to work so big with a high level of precision.  The folks

at Omelet that I met were all so sweet, it made me feel

right at home from day one.

Human Operated Vending Machine

I was contacted by one of a pair of twin brothers, who happen to be magicians that run a company called Art of Play which sells collectible playing cards.  They were looking for me to paint a box to loosely look like a retro vending machine.  ASAP.  You don't get a call like that every day.  

 

So, they built this cardboard box "vending machine" that they were going to take to the Magic Live convention in Vegas and sell cards from.  A guy was going to be inside it, taking money and dispensing decks of cards. And they wanted their lovely box to be hand painted.  Once we got down to scheduling, it turned out I only had an 8 hour block of time to do it in.  Three sides of a 6 ft. tall box, to design & paint on site.  So, this is what happened.....

This picture was taken before all the $$ slots were cut into it, but hopefully you get the idea.  Put the $ in for one of the 12 different varieties of decks, get that deck (in a semi-automated secret-human-inside-the-box kind of way).  Pretty rad!

 

Some 50's inspired fonts, as well as a little circus inspiration. 

I am so thankful these fellas brought such an imaginative project to me and I love that the finished product went on to live a life of it's own after I was done with it.  Made by humans for humans.  Totally human powered, man.  Only in Hollywood.

WAKE UP

 

I had the privilege of painting this mural for Omelet in Culver City this weekend.

They designed the layout, so it was a one day execution on this.  It's first thing you see when you enter their lobby. You can't beat that for a statement!  A real endorsement for coffee.

Quick foray into the world of sweets!

BEWARE: Wine Tasting Signs lead to Wine Tastings

In the studio, putting the finishing touches on

identical 7ft and 4ft signs.  This color palette was a new

one for me, I dig the avocado green against the creamy lemon whip.  

The Client was excited because you can read it clearly

from over 100 feet away. 

After installation ///// Before wine tasting.  

If you stumble upon this sign in Los Angeles, you should 

drop me a line or a picture and tell me what wine you tried!

Signs for Sticky Rice at the Grand Central Market in LA

                            BEFORE                                   AFTER

Here's a little before and after snapshot of the Sticky Rice stall at the Grand Central Market in downtown LA.  I made the chalkboards and hand painted sign just in time for their grand opening. Note the crowd after the signs have been installed. If you build it paint it, they will come! ;)

During the Grand Opening, Buddhist Monks blessed the business with chanting, a water purification ritual and some sacred symbols.  It was a beautiful ceremony and a huge honor that my sign got to be part of the blessing!

Here's a shot of the distressed/vintage inspired sign.  Love their logo.  Almost as good as their amazing food!

Holiday Candy Sign

One of my favorite things is playing around with fonts & hand lettering.  This was a festive offering for the 2012 holidays.