Stripes & Graphics: Lane Walker

Lane Walker is best known for his outstanding sign design, like the truck door on the cover of the May/June 2017 issue of SignCraft. He sees himself a sign painter first, with pinstriping as a secondary skill.

“I consider myself a sign painter who also stripes,” Lane says. “I started painting signs in 1977, then opened my own shop in 1990. While working at Silver Dollar Signs, I rarely did any trucks—it was all signs. Once I was on my own, I started to do trucks for a Peterbilt dealer. The truck drivers started asking me if I could ‘throw some pinstriping on there too….’ I got tired of saying I just did the lettering, so I decided to learn how to stripe.

“A quill and a dagger are very different brushes for me. True, they are both squirrel hair and you’re applying paint, but they behave differently. I’ve really struggled to learn to use both daggers and swords. After 20 years of striping I am still much more confident with a quill in my hand.”