I’m often asked this question: "how do you get that design onto the building?" It can take several forms, like, “are you using a template? or “are you free-handing that?” (to which I reply that it’s a buy-one-get-one-free deal - I throw in the second one for free 😉).

There’s an ancient technique (I’m told it was one Michelangelo used in a more primitive form) of the pounce pattern. The design is drawn out full size on paper, then the paper is perforated with tiny holes along the lines on the paper. This paper is secured onto the surface to be painted (usually with tape) and powder like charcoal, chalk, or snap line powder is pushed through the holes onto the surface. The powder is usually bound up in a cloth pounce bag. Then it’s a matter of painting the design.

So how does this work?

First, the design is drawn full size. Way back when I started in the sign trade we didn’t have computer plotters, and we drew out the design by hand, or projected it with an overhead projector onto paper on the wall (tried to find a photo online, but failed…)

This technique was used very often by billboard painters - billboard shops would have huge walls with sheet metal attached to the wall with big powerful magnets holding the paper in place. They would use the Electro-Pounce to trace the lines… more on that later.

Here is a short video of my 48” plotter drawing out the vector file for a sign painting design:

The design is then traced with the Electro-Pounce machine. The company is not in business anymore, but many sign painters still have and use one of these simple but effective machines. The machine has a stylus that makes a circuit with the sheet metal panel under the paper drawing. The lines are traced with the stylus, like this:

When everything is ready, the paper pounce pattern is taken out to the site, taped up in place, and the charcoal or other powder is pushed through the holes to transfer the design (called “pouncing”). Did a video with one hand holding the camera, the other doing the pouncing. It’s not the best video, but it should get the technique across:

And finally, the sign painter goes to work. Here’s a quick video that shows both the pounce pattern and the transferred design, along with some dang good-lookin’ sign painter at work:

How can you get more information? I can tell you - contact me, Paul Borne (president of Big City Signs) to find out more.

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Big City Signs | Graphics - since 1981… Old School Know-How & Today’s Technology.