User talk:LPScanlon/Evaluate an Article

Hi Lauren,

A few suggestions for approaching the sign painting article--
 * you don't need to create an entirely perfect article! Focus on low-hanging fruit first. Create an outline for your revision.
 * As you've identified, this article has no citations. So a great place to start would be to add a citation for every claim. For example: "Sign painting is a learned craft with a long history." Isn't every craft learned? What is a long history? 200 years, longer? citation?? This sentence, if you can find appropriate info, would sound better like this:

"The craft of sign painting developed in the late 1800s in urban areas of the United States.[citation] Stores and commercial good manufacturers found the ready availability of newly-constructed buildings an inexpensive and highly visible medium for promoting their products..."

[I have no idea if this is true! Just providing an example]


 * Once you've added appropriate citations you might consider adding the following info:


 * Context for the craft of sign painting--there is no historical info on the why of sign-painting or its historical development and purpose.
 * Mention notable sign-painters.
 * Mention the connection between sign-painting and mid-century artists such as James Rosenquist or Jackson Pollack/Franz Kline (the former began as a sign-painter and his work embodies elements of the craft such as size, commercialism, and readibility; the latter used sign paint in their work.) Ed Rusha painted pictures of sign paintings, etc...

I'm happy to consult at any point. Zipperbrown (talk) 17:39, 24 April 2020 (UTC)


 * Hello Anna, thank you for these suggestions. They're very helpful. I started adding more material to the Sign Painting Wikipedia page, and I also started deleting things that were not functional - i.e., mostly broken links. It will take time to find the kind of historical documentation you are talking about re; the origins of sign painting - I haven't located any definitive publications on the history of sign painting yet.  I am still collecting sources.  But I do think I am making progress on changing the article. You'll see additional work in my Sandbox and additional edits on the Sign Painting Wikipedia pages.  Thanks again.  --LPScanlon (talk) 17:52, 24 April 2020 (UTC)