Old School

If you ever saw dad's sermon notes, you'd appreciate his lettering as much as you would his messages. He would often put in little drawings to illustrate his points along the way. But it was his headings, the subheads and bullet point fonts were always executed with a little fancier hand drawn font.

Dad had the most beautiful handwriting. Good penmanship is no longer taught, and it's a lost skill to most these days. My brother has an incredible handwriting that echos of our father's influence.

I think dad got his interest in using his fancy hand drawn fonts, like his younger brother Patillo Ainsworth Finlayson, from his older brother Burruss Wofford Finlayson. Dad and Ainsworth were just avid amateurs when it came to hand lettering. Wofford was the seasoned pro. Wofford was an old school commercial artist of the highest caliber. He did his share of painting movie posters and signage for theaters in Columbia back in the 30's and 40's.

One of my life's regrets is that I didn't take his offer of living in Columbia, South Carolina and work for him. I was in my early to mid teens and didn't know what I was being offered at the time. I would've had a Summer to remember and a wealth of knowledge that could've taken me further into my art.