This is the final painting of the faux painted juke box prop for RWB Party Props in Orange and was painted about 30 years ago. The sign is done on a 4’x8’ plywood panel and was used extensively on the 50’s sets that Bob put together for corporate parties. This is only one of many signs and props I did for RWB. The ‘jukebox’ was a lot of fun to do and I had help from a fellow sign painter, Kenny Leisure, who worked out of Whittier. I also did all of the exterior signs that are on the old Citrus Building that houses RWB Party Props.
Joyce Bright Interiors Gold Leaf Sign
Joyce Bright Interiors needed a hand lettered gold leaf sign. They have been in the City of Orange for a number of years. Carol contacted me from an ad I had in the Old Towne Orange Plaza Review. She was moving to a new location at 300 Chapman Ave into a historical building that also houses the Chamber of Commerce. Carol asked me to design a hanging sign using their logo, and also working drawings so that the city could approve a permit. I did the design drawings in CorelDraw.
It took awhile but once the client and city approved the drawings I moved on with the job. The panel was cut from ¾” mdo plywood, primered and painted with enamel. After making a pattern, I did the hand lettering. I suggested a gold leaf border and they thought it would look nice and help the sign stand out. The client had the brackets made from drawings I furnished and they had a sub contractor install the sign.
Disneyland Railroad Tender
The Disneyland railroad was one of the original rides at the park, and all of the trains are hand lettered. I worked at Disneyland for seven years. I did hand lettering every day on projects throughout the park that included window lettering on Main St., wall signs throughout the Magic Kingdom and various silk screened projects and show cards for cast members celebrating retirement or birthdays. In 2005 the park was literally gold leafed throughout, including the Magic Castle and the Merry-Go-Round. It was something to see and I’m glad I got to be part of that.
On this particular job WDI decided to redesign the lettering on the tender for the C.K. Holiday train. Warren asked me to redesign a computer created drawing and draw it out by hand as it was done in the old days.
This is the design that was approved. It is lettered with One Shot enamel. The tender was repainted in the Disneyland Paint Shop and brought to the Disneyland Sign Shop. The work was completed in a large room in the Sign Shop building that was used for the purpose of doing large projects like lettering train tenders.
Custom Disc Jockey Booth
Custom disc jockey booths are not new. This custom disc jockey booth was done in the 1980s when there was a resurgence of 50’s music and there was a club in Irvine that was built called ‘Happy Day’s’.
They may have spelled it different from the TV series. Anyway the owner asked me to design and letter a disc jockey booth that would reflect the era.
At that time I had an expensive ‘morgue file’ as we used to call a collection of reference material. From that I got ideas about what to use for this 1950’s job. I made color sketches for the presentation using pen and markers. I would do rough sketches on tissue and then combine the good parts to make a working comp. I also did the working drawings for the booth itself.
The contractor did a great job constructing the booth and after it was completed I hand painted everything with enamel paint. They added Tivoli lights for effect. It was a pretty neat addition for the club, and became a popular place to dance and party.
Columbia Fire Engine Vehicle Graphic
This fire engine is a beautiful machine, gold leafed and pinstriped, It was built in 1926 by Seagraves Fire Engine Company. The placement of the vehicle graphic was crucial to the beauty of the existing paint.
Dave is in the process of restoring the complete truck and wanted a new name designed for the truck and have it placed on the split hood and also on the gas tank. I also did some sketches for the illustration of a ‘southern belle’ to decorate the lower part of the hood. I did several sketches and after they were approved went on site to do the gold leaf and hand lettering.
I worked in a covered garage and Dave wanted to learn some gold leaf technique so he helped me where he could. I did the stripping and all the brush work that you see. The work took several days and it turned out to be a really nice job. I hope Dave learned enough to stripe the rest of the fire truck. I haven’t heard yet how that went.