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Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from Sign Painting: A practical guide to tools, materials and techniques by Mike Meyers, out now from Laurence King Publishing, and reprinted here with permission of the publisher.
Mike Meyers is a sign painter from Minnesota who is widely recognized as one of the masters of the craft. Together with Spain-based sign painting expert Sam Roberts, Mike runs Better Letters, which promotes sign painting internationally through workshops and educational activities.
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In 1984 Bill Stewart wrote of “the renaissance of the crafts-man” in his book, Signwork. This continued a tradition of books remarking on the current state of sign painting. Those at the early stages of their career when Stewart was writing, including Mike Meyer, have seen a fall and rise in demand for the sign painter’s craft: In the last ten years or so we have truly witnessed a resurgence. This appears to have been driven by business and consumer desire for a human touch in their interactions, something that comes naturally from a hand-painted sign, less so from a digital screen. — Sam Roberts
This book was written following many requests from curious people who are striving to learn the fascinating craft of sign painting. In the pages that follow I have tried to set out some of the essentials for getting started, with the aim of providing a solid foundation for you to build upon. In this introduction I want to talk about some of my core beliefs about sign painting and being a sign painter. These have been formed over my many years in the trade, and have stood the test of time. — Mike Meyers
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