1.   At Valley College, he found his calling as a sign painter.

2.   Alberto Gonzalez is one of a dying breed -- outdoor sign painters who practice their craft on brick walls and billboards all over New York City.

3.   He chose the paint that sign painters use because it is a very dense, very high-pigment paint.

4.   Hartford studied art at Washington University in St. Louis and worked as a sign painter, commercial artist, riverboat deckhand and disc jockey.

5.   He still maintains that no computer could duplicate the single-stroke technique of a master sign painter.

6.   He worked as a sign painter for the paint division of the company.

7.   He tries out for a job with a sign painter and turns out to be extremely talented.

8.   His father, then a sign painter, loved music, especially opera.

9.   In the last few years, sign painters have become an endangered species.

10.   It was the first day on the job for the sign painters, Alberto Gonzalez and Ruben Sacastro.