Beginner sign painter from Lima Perú.

[Jose Miguel]

Hi everyone, I'm Jose Miguel and I'm from Lima, Peru. I am a tattoo artist and painter. I've been practicing for 3 months, practicing on paper, the alphabet for each day and recently tried to make my first sign. I really like this art and here in Peru it is very difficult to find a sign painter, that is why I am here in this forum. I have read a lot online, and bought a book and everything has been an empirical learning.

In order not to make this message very long, I would like to receive some advice with light colors, such as yellow, white. My problem is that the paint is very transparent, I use enamel paint mixed with a little tiner. I've seen many videos where they have no problem with those colors, and I'm a little embarrassed to be asking something that is surely very simple.

With a lot of respect
greetings from Lima, Peru.

Jose Miguel

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/4600/i1Ip7Y.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/1420/VS9J0O.jpg

[Katherine Davies]

Hello Jose!

I'm a new sign painter too! I'm based in Los Angeles, CA. It seems your trouble is the type of paint you are using. To start with are you using oil based or water based paints? Oil based tend to have better coverage though they're much more toxic to work with. The images you posted looked like they were maybe done in tempera, which is a water based paint. Tempera has especially poor coverage with lighter colors.

I know from interacting with other sign painters that what paints are available vary quite a bit place to place or country to country. In the US One Shot is the standard paint people use though other companies like Alpha6 are becoming more popular.

You may have to just try different brands or types of paint. Keep in mind that even white or yellow One Shot needs 2 coats to cover on dark backgrounds.

Good luck!