Signs of the Times. Part I.

Knowing that I liked to paint an acquaintance once asked me to take the logo from his company’s letterhead, about one and a half inches in diameter, and paint it onto the wall of the conference room behind his chair...at about eight feet in diameter. I explained to him that while I did paint I was not a sign painter, that that was a different discipline and that it required different tools, different technique, and different paint. He was unhappy with my response and since then I have always felt that he thought I refused him for some personal reason...having to do with either him or me..

But I do admire sign painters and I often marvel at their mastery of lettering and illustration.

Here in Oaxaca almost all of the signage is painted on the front walls of the buildings. I’m uncertain if that is for aesthetic reasons, to avoid visual cutter, which would be especially true in the historic center, or if it has to do with the frequency of earthquakes and is an effort to minimize falling objects. The protocol is that when the quake rumbles, one is to run out into the middle of the street. Most buildings being one or two stories should they collapse the debris rarely reaches the center of the street.

As a result of my wanderings I have noticed that this is consistent throughout the city. This is very similar to Santa Monica where it is both the visual and safety that is the issue, but I do not know if that is consistent in the whole of Los Angeles County.

In the photo of the man painting he is standing near the top of a twelve foot ladder and it appeared to me that he was painting the whole sign freehand. I can see no marks or guidelines. Such is the talent of the sign painter and such is the talent that I do not possess.