Pouncing on the Art of Billboard Advertising

In an era when hand-painted billboard advertisements reigned supreme, billboard artists laid out their work using a pattern transfer technique called “pouncing.”  Pounce patterns were well-known to Renaissance artists like Michelangelo. Sign painters, muralists, fine artists, embroiderers, and quilters still use this method in their work today.

The billboard pounce pattern process begins when artists draw the billboard design on paper at full scale. Billboard ads span several feet in height and width, so the drawings are huge. The artist perforates the finished drawing along the lines of the design using a tool called a pounce wheel. The pounce wheel resembles a small, spiked pizza cutter and creates a series of tiny holes that outline the entire image. In bygone times, artists perforated these patterns with a needle or straight pin!

 In 1961, Field Management Services Corporation (FMS Corp) introduced sign makers to an electronic machine called the Electro Pounce. It used high voltage to burn arcs through paper patterns to create clean, crisp holes for pouncing. It also had the ability to pierce multiple layers of paper at once. Though electronic perforation machines speed the process and provide patterns more resistant to tearing than those made with traditional pounce wheels, they are expensive compared to a simple handheld pounce wheel. Many billboard painters continued to use the humble, affordable metal tool. Below are images of a pounce wheel and an electronic pounce machine.

Once the pounce pattern is complete, the real magic begins. Sign painters take the perforated paper to the billboard painting site and carefully position it on the blank display and tape it down. With the pattern in place, they dust over the perforations with a small bag filled with powdered charcoal or chalk. The pounce bag lets the powder seep through the fabric’s tiny holes and deposit a dotted design outline on the billboard surface. The transfer process is shown in this article’s lead photograph.

As shown in the photo above, the dotted outline guides the artists, who use the dots to draw the layout to scale on the paint surface before they begin the painstaking process of filling in the design. The painters carefully choose each color and deliberately apply every brush stroke to bring the image to life. They climb up and down scaffolding, balancing paint cans and brushes, transforming the blank canvas into a vibrant, eye-catching advertisement.

Pounce patterns allowed for remarkable precision and consistency, ensuring that the final product matched the original design down to the smallest detail. It was a technique that required skill, patience, and a keen eye for detail. But more than that, it was a testament to the artistry and dedication of the billboard painters.

Today, digital technology has nearly replaced the art of hand-painted billboards. Meadow Outdoor Advertising transitioned away from hand-painted billboards in the early 2000s, but the legacy of the pounce pattern lives on. Muralists, sign painters, and a few billboard artisans remain. They remind us that billboard advertising, whether executed by hand or with technological assistance, is not just about selling a product but creating a memorable work of art that captivates and inspires.

Watermarked images are from the Duke University Libraries Digital Collections.

If you are interested in advertising on one of our billboards call us at 800-221-4114 or email us at meadow@meadowoutdoor.com!