About the Author
Ron Percell is a sign artist and workshop instructor, and the owner of Letterhead Sign Supply, a specialty supply house for hand-lettering, sign painting, pinstriping, and gilding. His work covers the traditional sign crafts: gold leaf gilding, glass gilding and glue chipping, sign painting, pinstriping, and smalt work.
Through the store, the workshops, and the trade community, Ron has spent his working life keeping traditional sign craft alive — supplying the materials, teaching the techniques, and sharing the work itself.
Workshops and Demonstrations
- West Coast gilding workshop (August 2013) — gold leaf, great for reverse glass gilding and so much more.
- How to make a simple dimensional MDO sign (December 2012) — enameled M.D.O. sign board, HDU foam, Electro Pounce pattern transfer, One-Shot lettering enamel, Andrew Mack series 189L quill and series 1992 flat, water-based gold size, and imitation gold leaf.
- Cliche Noe sign painter demonstration (December 2012) — how to make a sign, demonstrated start to finish.
Smalted background work by Ron — layered M.D.O. wood, gilded gold and silver leaf, airbrushed, pinstriped, and hand lettered — is shown in the store's smalt how-to pages, including the step-by-step smalt background video.
"We really like the updated website, and are looking forward to adding more rich content about Sign Painting, Pinstriping and Gilding." — Ron Percell, December 2012
Magazine Articles
Articles by and about Ron Percell and Percell Signs, as listed on Percell Signs:
| Strickly Commercial | Article by Ron Percell | Signs of the Times | |
| Feature of a Pinstriping Panel made for the annual "Brush Rush" hosted by Jerry Barlow of Turlock, Ca. | Article by Steve Aust | Signs of the Times | |
| Feature on our Trade Show Called the MicroMeet, behind the scenes interview | Article by Adrienne Morgan | Sign Builder Illustrated | |
| Article by Jerry Mathel (title not shown on the listing page) | Article by Jerry Mathel | Sign Builder Illustrated |
The Hand Lettering Forum
Ron also runs the Hand Lettering Forum at handletteringforum.com, a community hub for the hand-lettering trade — sign artists, pinstripers, gilders, and muralists sharing work, techniques, and trade knowledge. The forum stands alongside the store and the workshops as part of the same work: keeping the trade connected and its skills passed on.
Letterhead Sign Supply — lettering, pinstriping, Mack brushes, gold leaf, smalt.