Ye Olde Sign Shoppe: Gran Canaria’s Tomás Prieto Gálvez

BLAG Magazine: Adventures in Sign Painting Craft, Community & Culture

Wall sign with tall sans serif letters painted dark blue with a yellow block shade.

Marmoles Daniel, painted by Tomás Prieto Gálvez.Marmoles Daniel, painted by Tomás Prieto Gálvez.

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In a follow-up to 'Juan 'el Petudo': Sign Painting King of La Palma', we return to the Canary Islands to meet Tomás Prieto Gálvez whose distinctive style came to define the aesthetic of the Arinago industrial estate, and beyond.

This translation is by Sam Roberts from the original in Spanish by Jaime Medina.

Tomás Prieto Gálvez proudly keeps a booklet issued in 1979 from the Employment & Social Affairs division of the Ministry of Work, certifying that he passed the exams on the sign painting course, and declaring him qualified to practise the trade. One of its pages includes typed details of the course’s syllabus: using stencils and working directly on the brush; wood graining and faux finishes; knowledge of tools and materials of the trade; classes in pigments and mixing paints; woodworking skills; tactile and aesthetic finishes; health and safety.

Born in Cañamero, in the province of Caceres, Tomás Prieto’s family moved to Madrid when he was 13. He started work around the same time, as a bicycle courier for the Institute of Political Studies. Years later, after some seasons working as a waiter in Mallorca, a TV commercial promoting Christmas in the sun in the Canary Islands awakened his spirit of adventure.

Island Days

In 1971, Tomás ended up working in the capital of Gran Canaria for the Chang couple, owners of the famous House Ming restaurant. He fell in love with the island, and a beautiful woman, Bibiana, who would later become his wife. Between them, they have kept him there ever since, in what he calls his “Canary Islands of the soul”.

Cocinas Artística ('artistic kitchens') by Tomás Prieto Gálvez.

Tomás has fond memories of Don Pedro, his instructor on the vocational sign painting course in Telde, Gran Canaria, which he attended for two hours a day over six months. He was quickly able to take advantage of his new knowledge and skills through his first commissions, mainly lettering vehicles. These included an Austin Mini for the Universal Workshop in Telde, and vans for the Diego Bosa and Floro furniture shops. He also painted the mandatory weight and maximum load markings on numerous local vehicles.

Those early days were not easy, yet Tomás smiles when he remembers them. He recalls practically lying on the floor to paint the Mini, and that his wife would have to hold a gas lamp when he spent nights painting some of these vehicles in his neighbour’s yard next door.

Tomás Prieto Gálvez in 2012 working on the large-scale Elite Van sign.

Waiting, Not Waiting Around

After those early sign painting jobs, he took up employment as a waiter, working for establishments serving tourists on the south of the island. He did that for five years, until a virus left him deaf in one ear and partially deaf (9%) in the other. The incident put him out of work, and his disability allowance was not sufficient to support his large family. It was at this point that he picked up his brushes again to become a self-employed sign painter.

Hand-painted wall sign with a sun-style mascot holding an array of coloured popsicles.

Bakoka polos y helados (popsicles and ice creams) by Tomás Prieto Gálvez.

He set up in Santa Lucía de Tirajans, and painted signs for various local businesses until he started getting orders to letter warehouses and other industrial buildings in the neighbouring Arinago industrial estate. It was a niche that he would come to specialise in, mastering the various skills required for this class of work.

Style is Eternal

When Tomás’ clients didn’t provide a design or logotype, he used a sans serif alphabet called de palo seco (dry stick), which was both practical and profitable, allowing him to complete orders quickly and effectively. Used at large sizes, and with the addition of decorative elements, this alphabet began to proliferate in the area. The quality of his work means that much of it has endured to this day.

Although he painted buildings in Tenerife and elsewhere, and occasionally took on other bits of sign work, it could be said that Tomás became the ‘official’ sign painter for the Arinaga industrial estate —it was a rare day when he wasn’t seen on a scaffold or crane tracing his huge letters onto a wall. With the help of a ruler, spirit level, and a pattern where he was required to reproduce a logotype, all of his work was painted by hand with brush or roller.

Retirement Reflections

While he has good memories of these times, it is easy to forget the difficulties of this type of work. He admits he was often fearful when strong winds caused his scaffold or cherry picker to sway as he worked, and that his wife and children, still young, would help when they could, despite one of them suffering from vertigo. He also had no access to a vehicle, sometimes carrying large sign boards on foot and up the stairs to his second floor flat where he painted in a small bedroom.

Now 77 years old, Tomás is the embodiment of effort, tenacity, and survival. His life wasn’t easy, and he had to manage his deafness while working hard to support his wife and five children. However, he maintains a remarkable sense of humour, a positive attitude, and is kind and friendly to all. In an era when the sign painting trade lacked any glamour, Tomás Prieto was a professional that forged his own path, and made this low-paying craft profitable.

Elderly man in denim jacket, baseball cap, glasses, and facemask.

Tomás Prieto Gálvez today.

In his retirement, he continues to pour his energy and vitality into various creative interests. As well as painting pictures and writing poems, he has found time to take classes in massage and hairdressing, and learned to play the piano, cello, and violin. We could consider Tomás to be a renaissance man, but he is, above all that, one that is humble and endearing.

This article is a translation of the original ‘Tomás Prieto Gálvez, pintor rotulista imitador’ written by Jaime Medina. Jaime is a Canary Islands sign painter and president of the Insula Signa Association, an organisation that promotes the study and protection of the archipelago’s graphic heritage.