Carson Lev: A return to sign painting roots

Carson Lev grew up in the Lakewood/Long Beach area of Southern California—the hotbed of car customizing, custom fiberglass bodies, welding, painting and lettering in the 1960 and 70s. Most of his friend’s dads were involved in some aspect of racecar building or drag racing and Carson was soon immersed in it.

“By the time I was in the 6th grade,” he says, “my mom would drop me off early on Saturdays at Lions Drag Strip, a famous and fast local track, with a sack lunch and my sketchpad. I would spend the day there, watching and drawing dragsters. At home I was always building model cars. When I couldn’t get all the decals that I wanted for the graphics, I started trying to paint them myself. There was a sign shop down the street from my home, so I learned a little bit there. By 7th grade I started hanging out at Ed Roth’s shop.

“Ed was an amazing guy. He was a powerful influence for me as a kid. He helped me see that it’s okay to think outside the box and create new things.”