This aggressive painting by The Royal Kingbee is obscured by an ice machine. In fact, between the ice machine and the deep field of vision with distant water, this one in the Bronx has a lot in common with this one in Nashville. A full third of the well-considered painting is hidden from view, but I wouldn’t anticipate the hidden area giving any more guidance for how to apprehend this image: Why the angry sandwich bearer; why the tropical theme, and so on. However, the light on the sandwich is convincing as all heck.
Bronx, NY
December 12, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Half Moon Bay, CA
December 10, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Whatever Chef Pepe’s hand is used for, it has seen a lot of action. But staying on topic (hand-painted food signs), the sandwich is competently rendered, a confident and inviting symmetrical splay. The surface of the toast is very credible. The flowing text banners, the corner embellishments and pointing hand instead of arrow all indicate a Victorian, or at least “historical” identity. Though it’s a little hard to concentrate with Chef Pepe standing there.
(photo by J. Eichman)
Dodgingtown, Connecticut
May 26, 2014 by Leave a Comment
A highly-ordered and self-contained sandwich. Plays well with others, keeps respectful distance from typography. Notice there is no shadow, no table, no other food. This is not a real sandwich, with flavor, but an idea of a sandwich. More an ideogram, a graphic symbol, than a sandwich.
El Paso, Texas
May 26, 2014 by Leave a Comment
H&H Carwash and torta shop in El Paso, contributed to the HPFSA Archive by C. Matsuda. Nothing wrong with a spotlight on a gigantic sandwich but not sure why lettuce is spilling out just that one place.
Tupelo, Mississippi
January 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Barbecue sandwich? I’m not sure what to say about this, though the choice to not mix the reds and browns completely does give it the pork-in-sauce look.
New Orleans, Louisiana
January 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
That sandwich reaches the vanishing point. I was giving a presentation about the Hand-Painted Food Signs Archive recently and my neighbor from across the street came to the talk. He has a collection of photographs of signs using superlatives. This one would work for both collections.
(Chartres Ave.)
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
October 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The strokes that make up the crustacea are well-practiced; the turn of each shrimp back is believable, not just a half-moon, but with shrimp-like inflection, and in a single stroke. How did the painter learn that stroke, I wonder? It’s so region-specific. And the same facility is not apparent in the lettering. Not a criticism, just pointing it out.