So you want to . . . Be a signwriter

• Published date: 18 March 2023
• Publication title: Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)

Hang on, isn't writing on walls just graffiti

Nope, we're talking about the commissioned work that you'll have seen up around the place. From Waterford Walls to the streets of Dublin, on gable ends, shopfronts and also indoors, signwriting makes lettering go large. More intricate takes might be picked out in gold on shop windows and more.

Gotcha. So it all starts at art college?

Not necessarily. Power never went to art college. "I wanted to but I dropped out of my portfolio course after secondary school because I thought I wasn't good enough." Instead she studied multimedia and worked in web design, but "I knew I wasn't doing what I was meant to be doing. I craved something more creative." On the advice of a wise friend, she looked for something she loved. An interest in signage, product labels and advertising led her to discover signwriting.

And then it was plain sailing?

Not quite! Power applied to do the Ballyfermot signwriting course but it got cancelled, so she taught herself. "Through word of mouth, I got a signwriting job, then another, and it just naturally snowballed from there. I've been very lucky," she says, proving that you make your own luck. Someone with a less positive disposition might have seen such setbacks as career-breaking instead of defining. Find the 26-week Ballyfermot signwriting course up and running at ballyfermottrainingcentre.ie, or look online for tips and a free introduction at lettering-daily.com.

What about materials and tools?

"I have heard before that a good signwriter can paint a sign with a toothbrush but I beg to differ," says Power. "A proper brush makes all the difference." You'll find specialist signwriting brushes, including the excitingly named Chisel Writer, at corkartsupplies.com. Power also uses oil-based enamel paints...