LIL' DUSTY'S WORKSHOP
Dustin Harvey has always been drawn to the d.i.y. hand painted signs in the working-class neighborhoods around Houston. Von Dutch and Ed Roth are big influences in Dustin’s work. He enjoys painting Rat Finks, flying eyeballs and some old Looney Tunes characters and occasionally his own characters. They make him laugh and they’re cool.
We recently spent the afternoon photographing some new shirts from Portuguese Flannel and Stan Ray with Dustin while talking more about lettering, sign painting, and commercial art vs. personal art projects.
Dustin’s studio is a filled with collections of hand lettering studies. Some on paper and some painted on found objects. Bright colors of One Shot and other enamel paint cans blend in with even brighter finished hand painted signs and other painted art. Dustin is constantly honing his skills. Painting characters is fun, but hand painted signs pay the bills. And when you’re charging a fee for a hand painted sign its gotta look perfect.
We left the studio and checked out some of Dustin’s hand painted signs around the East End neighborhood. There are many challenges to painting signs Dustin explained. The Texas heat, and unusual wall textures are just a couple. The reward of seeing his own work on the roads he frequents makes it all worth it.
Photos By Joseph Espinoza
Art and Signs By Dustin Harvey
graffalotsigns@gmail.com