US3030721A - Method for simultaneously hand-painting a plurality of pictures - Google Patents

Description

' A ril 24, 1962 R. FERRARI 3,030,721

METHOD FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY HAND-PAINTING A PLURALITY OF PICTURES Filed July 6, 1959 @215 2. W INVENTOR.

6 FEDEQ/CO FERAAE/ 7 a 9 BY 3,030,721 METHOD FOR SIB IULTANEOUSLY HAND-P- ING A PLURALITY (3F PICTURES Federico Ferrari, 5038 Cloverly Ave., Temple City, Calif. Filed July 6, 1959, Ser. No. 825,245 4 Claims. on. 41-26) This invention relates to a method that, while a single picture is being hand-painted, produces two or more substantially similar pictures.

An object of the present invention is to provide an extremely economical method for production of a plurality of hand-painted pictures at little more than the cost, particularly in the time of the artist, of painting one picture.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method as above contemplated by means of which an artist, while painting a picture, simultaneously paints one or more duplicates.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method that may advantageously be applied to billboard painting, the duplicates produced during painting of a billboard being flexible and adapted, when dried, to be rolled up for easy transportation to the site of and application upon other and remotely situated billboards, thereby enabling the painting of a plurality of billboards remote one from the other at but little more than the cost of painting one billboard.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a method in which a billboard is painted with a picture while simultaneously producing one or more duplicate pictures on screens mounted on said board and then,

while the paint on said screen or screens is still wet, effecting a transfer of 'said paint and, as a consequence, thepicture'to other billboards.

My invention also has for its objects to provide novel steps that are convenient and facile, simple, economical, and of superior serviceability.

The accompanying drawing is used as a basis for the following description of the present method, the same being given as by way of example.

In the drawing, like reference characters designate similar parts in the several views.

FIG. 1 is a broken front elevational View of a billboard prepared according to the present invention and handpainted to provide a plurality of pictures.

FIG. 2 is a greatly enlarged and detailed cross-sectional view of the billboard shown in FIG. 1.

The term hand-painted, as used in this disclosure and the appended claims, is intended to include any manual method of applying pigment or paint to a surface. The term contemplates roller application of paint and spraying, as well as brush painting, and is intended to differentiate only over imprinting, as on presses, offset, lithography, etc., whereby mechanical duplication rather than hand-painted duplication is the result.

In the drawing, the board 5 may'vary greatly in size and may extend twenty, thirty, or more feet, as is the nature of billboards. In practice, such a board is erected in a studio where an artist or artists may paint the sur-' face thereof. Usually being sectional, the painted board may then be transported, in sections, to the site of display, and there erected for public viewing. Heretofore,'

one such board was produced at one time and if others were needed for display at other sites, the process was repeated, at the same cost as the first. In other words, each billboard so produced was an independent item and the production cost of one was separate from the cost of the others.

According to the present novel method, an artist, while painting a picture on the board 5, is simultaneously painting one or more duplicate pictures which may be used on other billboards.

3,030,721 Patented Apr. 24, 1962 In order to do this, one preferred procedure is as follows:

The outer surface of the board 5 is first primed to render the same non-absorbent or impervious to the penetration of paint. The surface so treated will cause paint applied thereto to reside on the outside, and a film of such paint will retain the thickness at which appliedrather than being soaked up into the board. Such a primer may advantageously comprise a white oil-base paint. After the primer is allowed to dry, the surface thereof is sized as by a mixture of shellac and powdered titanium to provide a preferably white coating. It is this size coating that provides the surface upon which the adhesive 6 is applied.

The adhesive 6 comprises a coating that is applied to the primed and sized board, the same being provided for the purpose of retaining in position on the board either a screen 7 or screens 7 and 8 superimposed on each other substantially as shown in FIG. 2. The adhesive 6 preferably comprises a stearate paste made with lithium and may be termed lithium stearate. The same is thinned with raw oil, such as linseed or poppy seed oil and may be applied by brush or spray to coat the board with a screen-adhering coating. Alumina stearate may be used instead of lithium stearate. Also, aluminum sulfate (alum) or aluminum hydrate may be used. As an alternative, any of these stearates, sulfates or hydrates may be thinned with raw or boiled oil or with varnish. Oil varnish will thin out the mixture and induces rapid drying. Y

Boiled oil will cause more rapid drying of the coat 6 than will raw oil, but the varnish will render the drying more rapid regardless which oil is used.

Thus, the drying rate can be controlled to insure retention of a non-hardened condition of the coat during painting of the picture 8 by an application of differently pigmented paints that covers the screens 7 and 8 (if two screens are used), as Well as the board 5. At any rate, the drying is quite slow and may be fixed to stretch over a period of several hours or even several days, depending on the painting time of the picture 9. The stearate, sulfate or hydrate above described are adhesive for the present purposes, and the drying time thereof is controlled by the oil or varnish thinner with which intermixed. The proportion of adhesive and thinner is not critical except for such drying timing and may vary greatly, as desired. It is important that the adhesive hold a screen or screens firmly in place on the board 5 and that the same remain so soft as to allow the screens to be readily peeled off after the painting is completed.

After the screen 7 or screens 7 and 8 are mounted on the board 5, the picture 9 is painted in the usual Way with pure oil pigment. When so painting, the pigment Will be rendered soft while being applied by the stearates, sulfates and hydrates of the adhesive coat 6 and will allow a facile brushing on of color to provide the picture 9. However, if the pigment will not flow as desired, small amounts of an extender may be used, the same comprising an oil or any of the paste stearates mentioned above. The pure oil paint is rendered more flowable by such addition of paste if the stearate already in the adhesive 6 is not sufficient to provide desired flowability. If one screen is used, the same is preferably fine-meshed in the nature of 200 mesh; and if two screens are applied; as illustrated, the same are coarser mesh, about mesh. Silk screen is preferred because of the stability of the fibers thereof and also because of the ability of these fibers to absorb paint. However, nylon'screen or other screens of suitable absorbent fibers will cause the applied paint to be, in part, intercepted by the outer screen 8 in part, by the screen 7 therebeneath; and in part, cover the primed and sized surface of the billboard 5. Except that dyes may be substituted for oil paints, the application of such paints on the screen-provided board 5 will produce substantially the same painting on the board and on each of the two screens. In practice, it has been found that oil paints are somewhat more stable in this connection than are dyes.

Now, since the screens 7 and 8 may be each separately peeled off, the same constitute independent paintings. The same are then dried either naturally or with the aid of heat, and when the paint 9 thereon has thoroughly dried, a flexible painting is the result. The same can withstand hard handling and can be shipped or transported rolled up without damage.

On a board similar to board 5, one of the painted screens 7 or 8 may be applied. Since, ordinarily, the board and screens are quite large, it is preferred that the screen be placed on the board in the desired position thereof and tacked down, as by adhesive strips, so as to hold the same in such position while adjustment thereof is made to square and align the length and width thereof with the board. A clear varnish or transparent glue may be applied to the tacked-down screen to cause the same to adhere in fiatwise condition to the surface of the board. Said varnish or glue is preferably waterproof so the same may not wash off. Since the varnish or glue covers the screen, the same preserves the paint on the screen against the elements. As an alternative, the surface of the board may first be provided with a clear varnish or transparent glue as above and the screen applied thereupon. The difliculty of properly aligning the screen with the board may not be too great if the board is vertical or nearly vertical, and this alternative method of application may be resorted to. In such case, a covering coat of clear varnish may be applied for the purpose of preserving the paint on the screen as before indicated. In this manner, a painting, originally painted on one board, may be applied to another remotely situated board at a low cost compared to the cost of the original painting.

Since the color of the paint is through the interstices of the screens, the same may be applied in a reversed manner, if desired.

The painting that remains on the board may be varnish-coated to improve weather resistance.

Another preferred form of the invention may be practiced as follows: The screen or screens 7 and 8' are mounted on a billboard 5 and a picture 9' painted as above described. Before the picture is completed, another billboard (for each screen used) is prepared by varnish-coating the same with a varnish that contains a drying in hibiter to keep the surface thus provided wet, or at least tacky. The mentioned sizing 6 may be used. Said coating provides not only a paint-receptive surface, but also one that is substantially non-porous.

Now, after the screens 7 and 8 are peeled off the board 5, as before, instead of allowing the paint thereon to dry, the same are each separately placed on a varnish-coated board. The wet paint, together with whatever adhesive effect is produced by the varnish coating, causes the painted screen to adhere to the board. Compressed air may then be used to force the paint on the screens, through the interstices thereof and onto the varnish-coated surface on which the screen is applied. The screen is then peeled off.

While not all of the paint on the screen will thus be transferred to the board, the resultant picture on the board will, nevertheless, constitute a closely similar one to the picture on the board 5 and, at most, may require a little touch-up to bring forth the full detail of the originally-painted picture.

Thus, if one screen is used, a second painting on a second billboard, with the screen, is produced; and, if two screens are used, two additional painted billboards, without screens, are produced.

After the'screens are removed, as above, they will contain some residual paint. By washing them in a paint-removing solution, such as is common in the trade, the screens may be thoroughly cleaned for re-use.

The line 10 in the drawing represents a seam between edge-abutted screens. Since screens are Woven in maximum widths, say fifty inches, a large billboard can be covered by screens only in strips, as shown. Ordinarily, these lines or seams cannot be seen nor, for that matter, can the mesh of the screens, except under the closest scrutiny. Of course, the seams or lines 10 are quite invisible, if the paint on the screen is transferred to a second board. Also, the weave or mesh design of the screen becomes lost as paint blends together on the varnished surface The painting that is transferred from a scrwn may be varnish-coated to provide weather resistance, as before.

Instead of providing a board with a coat of varnish or glue before a screen, painted according to the present method, is applied on said board, as hereinbefore described, the board may be dry while the painted screen is placed thereon and the varnish or glue applied to the screen and board simultaneously.

It will be realized that the pencil cartoon or drawing, that is ordinarily used as a guide for the artist, may be drawn on the board 5 before the size coating is applied. Since this coating is transparent, whether applied directly to the board alone or to the screens as well, the pattern, cartoon or drawing remains visible as a guide to the artist after the sizing coating or coatings are applied and allowed to dry.

In practice, the board 5 is quite large, usually being many feet high and many feet wide. Such large boards can be conveniently primed, coated and painted only when in a vertical or a near vertical position. Since the screen-provided board, when painted, must be provided with thick applications of paint to provide sufficient paint for the board and the screen or screens, there may be a tendency for such paint to run gravitationally and destroy the accuracy or detail of the painting. It is the stearate paste in the adhesive that holds the screens in position on the board that counteracts such sag in the paint and preserves the accuracy of the picture.

While the present method is described with respect to the simultaneous production of two or three similar paintings, by using a third screen, a fourth painting can be made in this manner. It becomes a question of paint or dye penetration through the screen interstices whether satisfactory paintings may be achieved with more than two screens. If a certain amount of retouching to emphasize accents and color intensity may be done economically, three or even four screens may be used in the manner hereinabove described. Even with extensive retouching, considerable economy of production is had.

While I have described what I now regard to be the preferred manners of carrying out the present method, the same are, of course, subject to modification without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. Therefore, I do not wish to restrict myself to the particular method steps disclosed, but desire to avail myself of all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A method of creating a display in colors on a backing board and simultaneously reproducing said display on a flexible screen for removal therefrom and for application to a second backing board, which method consists in treating the surface of the first backing board to which the display is to be applied to render same impervious to moisture, applying a coat of slow drying adhesive to the treated surface of the board, wherein said adhesive contains a thinner and a member of the group consisting of a metal stearate, a metal sulfate or a metal hydrate, the adhesive having a drying period approximately the length of time required for the creation of the display, applying to the coated board and securing same by said slow drying adhesive a screen formed of a stable absorbent fiber having a mesh sufficient to permit the penetration of portions of the colored material therethrough to the backing board to apply to the latter the same colored display as applied to the screen, applying a colored coating to the mesh in a predetermined design and in sufiicient quantity and pressure to cause the same to adhere to the screen and to penetrate the same for reproducing the colored design on the screen and backing board, removing the screen bearing its display from the backing board While in its moist state and before the adhesive on the backing board and the color display dries, drying the removed screen and its display, and applying the screen with its display to the second backing board by an adhesive.

2. The method in accordance with claim 1 characterized in that the first backing board is coated with an adhesive mixed with an inhibitor to retard its drying action and a plurality of screens are superimposed upon the board, the screens being formed of a stable absorbent fiber of approximately 200 mesh to permit the penetration of portions of the coating material through the screens and onto the backing board, and a colored coating is applied to the outer screen in a predetermined design in suflicient quantity and pressure to cause the same to adhere to all of the screens and to penetrate the same for reproducing the colored design on the screens and on the backing board, and removing the screens bearing the colored display from the backing board and applying the same to other backing boards for reproducing the display.

3. The method in accordance with claim 1 characterized in that the adhesive is in the form of a stearate paste thinned with oil and the screen which is formed of a stable absorbent fiber is in the nature of 200 mesh.

4. The method in accordance with claim 1 characterized in that the adhesive is in the form of a stearate paste thinned with oil varnish.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,323,620 De Leeuw Dec. 2, 1919 1,433,203 Halpern Oct. 24, 1922 1,987,593 Burgdorfer et a1 Jan. 15, 1935 2,098,118 Wheelwright Nov. 2, 1937 2,122,043 Pollard June 28, 1938 2,692,553 Metzner Oct. 26, 1954

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