It’s always good when your interests overlap. Already something of a regular on these pages, Steve Powers has been busy painting walls for the latest Kurt Vile & The Violators album “Walkin’ On A Pretty Daze”, released on Matador records.
This follows his previous foray into the music world, with the sleeve art he illustrated for the JJ DOOM album last year on Lex Records.
Ornamental Conifer, otherwise known as Nicolai Sclater, is a London based artist whose signwork has recently caught my attention. I can’t quite recall where I first happened upon it but after several clicked-links I was on his page, exposed to the full extent of his work…….Signs, logo design, typography, illustration, screenprinting, T-shirt and leather jackets, zines, flyers and posters, helmet and bike tank work…..the man has an embarrassment of strings to his bow.
Take a look at the vast portfolio of work (including videos) on his page…..
Told myself that I couldn’t go home this evening until I’d painted a decent enough straight line. Just short of an hour later, following many failed attempts, and I’m beginning to doubt what I’m doing – how much time can a man really spend painting this many lines? What if I never attain a good enough standard and signwriting becomes just another fad, something else I had a stab at (shouldn’t this stuff be in my genes?!), and I look back at these years in horror at all the wasted hours spent PAINTING LINES FOR CHRIST’S SAKE!!!
Having said that I painted some sweet curves this week. Beautiful they were!
Still patiently putting brush to practice board – and I’m managing to do this most days, even if it’s just fifteen to twenty minutes whenever the opportunity arises.
I am beginning to notice a difference too, between those very first practice boards back in 2011 and the more recent examples. Lines are becoming straighter, corners more defined. I feel like it’s coming together, albeit at a glacial pace!
Very good Creosote Journal article on the sign work of Derek McDonald.
Enjoy!
Here’s a link to his Golden West site.
I’m slowly accumulating a respectable looking kit box, with a small portion of my monthly salary going towards extending my range of brushes, paints and any appropriate extras.
The latest addition is a pounce wheel and pounce pad. The pounce wheel is about the size of a pen with a small spiked wheel at one end. This wheel is used to trace the artwork, rolling along the lines of the design to create a perforated outline.
The artwork is then placed in position upon the sign and the pounce pad is used to dispense chalk upon the design. The chalk filters through the perforations to leave an impression of the artwork upon the board, ready for painting.
signblanks 