Sign Project

I work in an eclectic part of town. Recently, I made a friend -- the owner of an antique store located just a short walking distance from where I work. The store, a gem in our small town, is always filled with quaint knick-knacks and hard-to-find salvaged pieces. Though a few people drift in daily, this Curiosity and Antiques shop is well worth reminding people. The owner now has a booth in a craft store downtown and asked if I'd make a sign to set next to the booth to remind people of the shop in our precious little neighborhood. I agreed, and away I went!

Step one was to prep the area. I require inspiration, so -- a great scene through the window, flowers on the table, old wooden no.2 Dixon pencil and notepad on the table, music through the room, and most importantly warm coffee in my hand, did the job. It's always wise to draw out a plan, especially when you're working for someone else.

TWO HOURS (and a whole lot of eraser rubbings) LATER...the format was sketched out. Fearing the idea of running out of space, I started this project by sketching the top and bottom first.

Step two was to start painting! Let me first say that knowing my client, her tastes, and the theme of the shop, it was important for me to choose appropriate colors. I chose muted vintage colors with a strong influence of antique gold. It is also extremely important to choose appropriate fonts and balance them out on the board, as well as the colors. For example, this sign could not read well with strictly one color on top and another color on bottom. My friend is fun. Spontaneous. The color scheme and layout had to follow suit.

Step three required that I slow down on the caffeine (smile) as I needed a steady hand to avoid making a mistake. Remember, never fully load your brush. It is better to pick up more paint when necessary, than glop paint down the artwork...EEK.

Step four was a little less intense. The banner didn't require straight lines which gave me a bit of a break from "form." Not desiring the flags to have a "colored in" look, I used only a dab of paint to give them a sort of worn linen look, and crosshatched brush strokes.

Step five: FINAL STEP! This is always my favorite part of these projects. Anything goes! Grab a brush or marker and accent whatever you'd like! After some shadow, embellishing dots, and tips of gold, all that was left was to erase leftover pencil marks. The work was long, tasking, and required quite a bit of caffeine (which I didn't mind in the least, wink), but it was finished and the client was thrilled with the end product -- which made it all worthwhile!