Next up meet the awesome sign painter and artist Georgina Tozer aka Tozer Signs, who has painted up an incredible gold leaf embellished Bell Eliminator helmet for our VC X BELL HELMETS custom series!
The super duper talented sign writer and artist Tozer has been on VC’s radar for a minute and with a custom commissions calendar that’s packed to the brim for 2022 we we’re so stoked when she said YES to painting up a gloss white BELL Eliminator helmet for this years project!
From creating one of a kind designs on custom cars to Tozers skills are incredible and we’re so stoked to be welcoming her to site at Camp VC this year to host custom painting classes onsite in collaboration with the mighty Bell helmets!
Tozers’s one of a kind Bell Cruiser Eliminator helmet painted for this project literally blew us away and we know it will do the same to whoever wins it!
Follow @tozersigns on instagram and read on for how she created this absolutely mid blowing helmet!
AND DON’T FORGET!…
All 5 of the Bell custom painted helmets are up for grabs at this years Camp VC event where we’ll be raffling them off! So make sure you grab one of the last few remaining tickets to the event HERE and grab a raffle ticket onsite to be in with a chance to bag one!!!
Where are you from originally and where do you live now?
I’m originally from Nottingham but have lived in Bristol for nearly 8 years now!
What first got you into sign painting?
While studying Illustration at University, we were asked to explore other industries for a module. Most people looked at things like photography, animation etc, and I took this time to look into signwriting. I’d been following a couple of signwriters for a while and I fully fell in love with it, and after spending a month or two researching it I’ve been devoted to it ever since! (Much to my tutors chagrin). This was seven years ago now.
What do you love the most about having such a hands on job?
The range - one day I could be painting a classic car in the countryside, the next painting intricate gold leaf lettering on windows in the middle of a busy city, the next painting a giant ice cream cone in my studio. I never get bored!
Where do you most get your inspiration from?
Other signwriters - whether they’re currently painting, or whether I’m using reference pictures from fascia signs from 200 years ago. There are an endless amount of techniques to look into and explore, and there’s always more to learn.
You seem to work a lot in gold leaf. Is it a tough material to learn to use?
Definitely - it look a long time for me to get the hang of - there can be one tiny mistake that makes the whole process go wrong, and sometimes you’re not even sure what mistake has been made. When I was teaching myself several years back there weren’t really any courses I could go to, whereas now there are so many options for ways to learn.
Also working on glass must be nerve wracking!
I actually really enjoy it! Sometimes not so much if there’s a huge gap between the double glazing. But usually it’s such a nice, smooth surface to work on, and you can really get into the flow.
How would you describe your style of work?
Accidentally bright and bold. I sometimes try to be more refined and elegant but it always ends up becoming a bit extra.
Have any other artists in particular been an influence on you?
Too many to name! I have a public Pinterest under my business name that has folders full of inspiration.
What has been your favourite recent project you’ve worked on and why?
Tough to say, there’s been so many great ones lately! I was asked to design a logo and an entire shopfront for Sprout cafe in Weston, and managed to convince them to let me do a mini mural on the door too. That whole project was just so fun, and was definitely helped by the fact I got to work in a beautiful sunny park and was fed tasty snacks constantly.
How does your life inspire your work?
My work is a lot of my life - truly. I’m trying to get a better hang of work/life balance but it’s hard, especially when so many fun projects come in!
Tell us all about your awesome Bell helmet design!
I really wanted to do my own take on the ‘live to ride, ride to live’ motto. I of course had to incorporate some gold leaf, and the lettering is my own hand-drawn script. I couldn’t not add some sparkles and pinstriping too. It’s maybe a bit extra but I really like it.
What materials did you use to create the helmet?
Stabilo wax pencil, One Shot lettering enamels, varnish for the gold leaf (ran out of gold size but varnish works great too!) and two types of leaf - 23ct gold and 18ct.
What was the process you used to paint the helmet?
I took a photo of the Eliminator helmet into Procreate on my iPad and sketched a couple of designs out. After I was happy with a design I sketched it directly onto the helmet with a Stabilo Aquarellable pencil, dusted chalk over it to keep the gold leaf from sticking to areas I didn’t want it to, and painted the lettering with a slightly tinted varnish. Once the varnish was tacky I gilded using 23ct gold leaf, and repeated for the details where I wanted 18ct. I then burnished off the excess, and outlined everything in One Shot black paint, finished the pinstriping and added a close shade to the lettering!
