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In the Pipeline: Boatyard sign painter has the precision of a true artist

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I saw him the other day in the middle of one of those magnificent, bright blue and yellow summery afternoons we’ve been enjoying. His small ramshackle truck was tucked away in a Huntington Harbour parking lot near a series of boat slips.

Pat O’Farrell, who had turned 71 the day before, was doing what he’s been doing since he was a teenager: painting signs.

I had stopped to admire his work as he put the finishing touches on a couple of small Chris-Craftsigns for a private boat. With gulls and a few egrets passing back and forth overhead and country music wafting from his radio, we got to talking.

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He moved to Long Beach from Houston in the late 1950s. He was in the Navy for several years, then started his sign-painting company.

Though he had dropped out of school in the eighth grade and had never taken an art class, major companies such as Budweiser and Taco Bell hired him to paint their signs on buildings, trucks, water towers — wherever they needed handcrafted logos.

Today, it’s a little different. Technology has a way of getting rid of guys like O’Farrell, but so far he has avoided being rendered obsolete. He doesn’t have a website or even a computer. He doesn’t have an office anymore. But he does have a tattered old photo album holding plenty of pictures of his work. He also has a truck that’s packed tight with cans of 1 Shot sign paint along with palettes and brushes.

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Perhaps most valuable of all, he has his reputation.

This is the sort of craftsmanship you don’t see much anymore. Page after page of his photos tell the story. He can draw and paint freehand with a precision and artful accuracy that I doubt any machine could match.

The esophageal cancer that he survived makes it all but impossible for him to work on anything but boats today. He doesn’t have the breathing capacity to climb ladders or cover a lot of ground.

But that’s OK for him. He loves painting signs for boats because it keeps him busy in serene, waterside spaces throughout Huntington Beach and neighboring cities. And since he can do the jobs with relative speed and efficiency, it leaves time to fish, which is important to him.

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“I’m kind of retired,” he told me with a weathered smile. “But I just love painting so much that I think I’ll always find the time for it. There are plenty of boatyards around Huntington Beach, and as long as people like the signs that I paint, then I’ll keep doing it. Over the years, I’ve worn out two bird dogs and three wives, but I’m still here painting. I don’t think that’s going to be changing anytime soon.”

I wanted to tell you about O’Farrell in case you have a boat in Huntington Beach that might need some expert sign painting. Remember, though, that you can’t reach him by email. Computers may have all but wiped out his livelihood, but he isn’t about to let them take over how he communicates with people.

His phone number is (213) 453-9681. And if you hire him, make sure you watch how he works. Watch the lines he draws, the colors he chooses. And the care he puts into each stroke. It’s truly a lost art.

CHRIS EPTING is the author of 25 books, including “Huntington Beach Chronicles: The Heart of Surf City.” You can chat with him on Twitter @chrisepting or follow his column at facebook.com/hbindependent.

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