posted
Here’s a couple of pictures of a job we finished yesterday. We did a smaller version of this last year.
There were two of these signs, one on the front of the building and one on the back. They are approximately 5' x 9'. The 2" thickness background is Aluminum with black beauty smalts, the incised lettering in the outer ring also is filled with black beauty smalts. The outer ring was given a hammered copper look and it, the scrollwork and grapes are finished with copper paint. The letters are prismatic face HDU and the drop shadows are HDU finished with Gold leaf.
This view shows it on the trailer as we left the shop.
This shows the finished sign on the wall.
We dodged lots of rain and motorists who were still driving the Indy 500 on this one and I was very happy to put it in the rear view mirror. The customer loved it and wants some more.
-------------------- David Harding A Sign of Excellence Carrollton, TX Posts: 5084 | From: Carrollton, TX, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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-------------------- John Roberts Dimensionalcarving.com 3751 E. Diamond Ave Mesa, AZ 85206 Posts: 22 | From: Mesa, AZ | Registered: Feb 2007
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Did you draw the scrollwork yourself? I always want to use scrolls but can never seem to find ready made versions that fit the need. When I try to draw them they are terrible.
What brand is the copper paint?
Very nice.
-------------------- Amy Brown Life Skills 101 Private Address Posts: 3502 | From: Lake Helen, FL, USA | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
The logo was designed by David Beck, an illustrator in the area who also designed the menus, boxes, etc. He came up with the scrollwork through many revisions a year ago.
I tweaked the scrollwork and lettering because the final design wasn't symmetrical. The grapes and "V" were to the right of center and the scrollwork was condensed to accomodate for that. I worked on the letter forms and spacing to bring the "V" and grape cluster to the middle and allow for the scrolls to be mirrors of each other.
The printed form is orange, black, and white. I came up with the construction techniques and colors to use on the sign.
The scrolls and grapes were cut out of HDU and hand carved to their final shapes. I carved one of each and gave them to the shop as a pattern on how to carve the rest. The copper paint is Modern Masters Metal Effects Copper, which has real copper in it and will patina without a clear coat. It is equivalent to the paint Dan Sawatzky uses. I first did a base coat of a rust red Sherwin Williams Superpaint, then the copper and clear.
I used black silicone sealant to adhere the scrollwork and letters. That way, any adhesive that squished out wouldn't be noticeable.
The black smalts, Copper, white, and Gold makes for a really dramatic effect in person.
Edited to add: When we built the sign last year, at first the outer ring was going to have a smooth surface with the incised letters. We had painted the copper color and I kept thinking, "This just looks like another panel off someone's router. It needs texture."
SignCraft had just done an article on Dan's textures and I thought, "What would Dan do? He'd make it look like hammered copper." I grabbed a ball pien hammer and started pounding away at that ring. The more I beat on it, the better it looked (it really says something about your work when steadily bashing it with a hammer improves it).
After about two hours of abusing that piece with the hammer and other implements of destruction (including Todd Gill in a theater), that portion of the sign had a totally different character. I repainted it (although the paint held up under the abuse remarkably well) and we continued on our merry way.
[ May 31, 2007, 02:58 PM: Message edited by: David Harding ]
-------------------- David Harding A Sign of Excellence Carrollton, TX Posts: 5084 | From: Carrollton, TX, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
WOW!!! That looks like a Raymond Chapmidget sign design.
-------------------- Ricky Jackson Signs Now 614 Russell Parkway Warner Robins, GA (478) 923-7722 signpimp50@hotmail.com
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Issac Newton Posts: 3528 | From: Warner Robins, GA | Registered: Oct 2004
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""Good judgment comes from experience; and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" - Will Rogers Posts: 3485 | From: Beautiful Newaygo, Michigan | Registered: Mar 2003
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-------------------- Judy Pate Signs By Judy Albany, Georgia USA 229-435-6824
Live simply...Love generously...Care deeply...Speak kindly...Leave the rest to God. Posts: 2621 | From: Albany,GA,USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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