Christmas presents

Just got done making a sign for my step dad. thought I would show how I did.


I started with a pencil sketch and then inked it in.
I then scanned that into my computer and scaled it to size and printed it out on 6 pieces of 8.5 x 11 paper.


I transferred that to the plywood and cut it out and started painting
I also took an old weathered 1 x 12 that had been outside for a few years and sketched the lettering on


after it was all painted I put a plywood spacer behind the truck and mounted it to the 1 x 12, I then added a french cleat to the back of the sign and sanded it a little to make it look like it's been around awhile



here's a picture of the truck after it was built 2 years ago, I also pinstriped the flames and lettering on the truck

and here it is with the sign I made earlier this year.

work, work, work

well work has been a little busy, my personal life has taken a turn, and things in general are fantastic.



I redid the Cary's of Oregon candy store signs as they had repainted the building, got the go ahead on repainting and refurbishing some signs for a property owner, repainted the sign at Oregon Swiss Precision, and finally installed the for lease sign I did a month or so ago. Also did some logo signs for Oregon RV Outlet, and some t-shirts for the robot club.



I will also be doing some more work for Thrive wellness, and some inside signs for OSP. And got another sign for the baseball field, gotta get to it before the rain starts.

gonna get some bills paid.

casting call

Couple of weeks ago I got a call from an older lady wanting some copies of a primitive hand carved wall hanging. not having done something quite this large I severely underestimated materials, but now have a little better idea how much material these things take and how much they cost.




the one in the center is the original, and the customer was very happy.

updates

A couple of weeks ago my work computer went belly up. I was using win98 and it was harder and harder to keep working online as there was getting to be less and less support for that OS, so all is good except that I lost 10 years worth of work, but no one died and now I get to start all over, some fun and some not so fun.

work has been piling up as I get the new system talking to my old hardware, which has been a little frustrating at times, but mostly everything seems to be working, now it's on to rebuilding files many from memory, and as I get older that's starting to go, so I'd better hurry :)

despite no computer and plotter I have been doing some molding and casting and hand painted signs that I took to the local rat-rod show.

Thrive

finished the signs yesterday and installed them today, translucent vinyl on Lexan plastic. This is the same stuff bulletproof windows are made of

it's BBQ time

here is the latest job. done in sherwin williams resilience line of paints

I spent a couple hours coming up with the pig logo on Mon, had it OK'd on Tues made patterns that night and painted early Wed. Next up I'm going to make a small model of the logo in 3D so that I can upsell them on a sculpture to go over their door. it's gonna look cool.

challenges

I was asked to paint a panel to replace the ad panel in a coke machine, the paints I use are opaque and the panel would be backlit so I needed some transparency. I mounted the panel up on some 2 X 4's and leaned them up against the partially open garage doors so I could get light behind the painting and know how much paint I was laying down. The difference is like night and day.



here is the panel with light from the front





and here it is lit from behind

bread and butter

the simple signs like this are called bread and butter signs, usually plain and ordinary but quick and profitable. just finished touching this up, now to send out the invoice and wait for payment.

A little more work

I finished the wall sign Saturday, next up is the sign on the front of the building, but I'll have to hire a boom to get up over the awning.

I also delivered some corex signs and picked up another job. I'll be painting a beach scene on a piece of plexiglass that will replace the original in a coke machine, and tomorrow I've gotta paint one more sign at the baseball field.

Back to the ballpark

I got a call from Fred Meyer stores today they want to go ahead on their sign at the ball field, now that the baseball season is done.

tomorrow I start the signs at Thrive fitness.

Busy, Busy, Busy again

well heres the photos of the lawn chairs I promised a week or so ago.



work has been real good and lots of communication with potential clients. the permit applications have been submitted for the wall signs so that should be a go soon.

all the signs that are going to get done have been done at the ball field for this year







I've also done an antique style sign for the GPHS class reunion of 1968 taking place in a week or two

There's a bunch more but I'll save it for later

sitting pretty

The old 50's style lawn chairs are about done, should have some pictures up by Sat. but tomorrow I've got to put together 4 signs for the Bed Store and get them installed and go consult with a new customer about their wall signs for their new location. Then it's on to engraving a four foot sword that has been rusting for the last couple of months.

A little update

Well I've been working intermittently at the ball park due in part to weather and most of the work is done, still 2 signs to go.

I am running a mural special for the month of July, up to 48 sq ft for $1000 for the first 5 murals commissioned.

I have also been painting some old lawn chairs from the fifties one will have a zebra pattern and the other a cheetah, they will be titled "Predator and Prey". Also did a few rustic garage/hotrod signs, and pulled a little wooden tray out of the trash and painted it up for a friend.

Shut out at the ballpark

Today there was an early game, 11am, so players were already out on the field at 9am so no work today on the signs. Back at it tomorrow but more of the same on Wed.

In the mean time here is a picture of the Bigfoot art piece I worked on last week.





6ft X 12ft, that's a Bigfoot

still more ballpark

Yesterday we scraped and primed two signs and touched up the Copeland sign


Today I added the address to Leavitt Group and called it done and went on to painting Fields and the Active Club

more ballpark

finished two more signs at the ballpark today. about 6 man hours (I had some help)

Take me out to the ballpark

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by the president of the local baseball league to repaint the signs surrounding the field, as the previous sign.painter was retiring for medical reasons.

Today I finished the first of these signs, only 14 more to go :)

the signs are 8ft tall by 12ft long on average, a few are bigger and there are a couple that are smaller.

They are in very rough condition and require scraping and priming prior to any painting

This sign is typical of the condition of most of the signs, this sign is not yet on the list. One I will be painting is next to this one.

This one gets painted tomorrow with a few changes.


This is what I faced this morning after prepping last Thursday.


And this was two hours later double coated and ready for a few more years service

a little (more) Bigfoot

Last week I got a call from the Bear Hotel. They needed one more thing done, Bob Eding needed some lettering done for a new way finding art piece to direct people to the Intergalactic Headquarters of Bigfoot.

The crew at the Bear Hotel made a 6 by 12 ft foot to be mounted on a pedestal weighing 1700lbs that will be located in downtown Grants Pass.

So last Wed I went in armed with a cut vinyl mask and applied it to the styro foam that we would mount to the structure. After applying the mask we loaded a spray bottle with lacquer thinner and misted over the whole thing to get a raised letter as the lacquer thinner melts the foam



I left Bob to finish carving and mounting the foam to the frame.



I went in today to finish painting as Bob was at his son's graduation

The monument should be in place tomorrow, I'll swing by and get a picture.

Magic-Sculpt

The material that I use to cover my armatures (in this case the styrofoam) is called Magic-Sculpt. it is a two part epoxy similar to JB Water Weld that some may be familiar with.

This material however is not quite as stiff and sets up in about three hours and gets rock hard in 24 hours. It also does not have a memory so after allowing it to set up for awhile you can still shape it and it will hold the new shape. Once it is dry you can sand it, drill it, even machine it. It takes all kinds of paints and is very user friendly. I am however allergic to it and need to use gloves to work with it.



To use it, take equal parts by volume and knead it together until there are no more streaks in it, about 7-8 minutes.

After kneading it is fairly soft and pliable and very easy to apply, but on warm days will start to set up and get stiffer as your working with it.

I use a variety of tools to apply texture to the clay, the texture in my gloves, crumpled aluminum foil, paint sticks, you can even embed sand and gravel in the material. Magic-Sculpt can even be used in press molds to duplicate a multiple of small items such as rivits and any small repeating pattern.




Here I used foil for the bark and a wire brush for the edges of the bark.

I buy my Magic-Sculpt at Kit Kraft in 100 lb kits, but they offer smaller quantities if you want to try it out first.