Painting the stone

Time to paint the letters. I let the shellac dry overnight and this morning had John walk me through the steps of mixing the right shade of gray that will stand out once the stone is waxed. We used an oil-based enamel called 1 Shot, favored by signwriters because it dries so quickly. The method used here is called "flood painting" for obvious reasons, but it's a somewhat misleading name because the process does require careful application. You sort of feather it on with a paint brush, working from the bottom of the v out to the edge for a clean coating. I got into the habit of going two letters forward, one letter back, touching up any light areas I missed with the first pass. I saw every detail again for the first time, but instead of seeing them as alphabetic shapes, it was all a maze of angles and planes. The glossy finish highlights every chip and wobble, and though, full disclosure, there are a few of those, I'm glad to say that otherwise I did a pretty clean job of it. Should be dry enough by mid-day tomorrow to grit off the excess paint.