The making of a painted sign

I was commissioned to paint a sign for Taste Buds, a unique and fun specialty food shop in Wimberley. There are all sorts of salsas and hot sauces. There are traditional and spicy jams and candies. Lots of unique dips and a huge selection of crackers and chips to pile your tasty treats on top of. The fun part is the taste samples of goodies throughout the shop. The sign is for the wine and beer side of the store. This final, approved drawing is the beginning of the process.

I’ve always preferred to paint large pieces outside. It’s great to live in a rural area to have the space for this. I have this “rustic” setup behind the barn, next to what used to be the blacksmiths’ shed. I use it for storage. My table is fashioned out of the rack that was originally mounted on the bed of my truck when I first bought it. It's much more useful and versitile as a table frame.

I enlarged the drawing to full size, then printed on paper from a large format architectural drawing printer. After cutting and priming the masonite board, I traced the drawing onto the surface. This is a great technique because it’s very accurate and clean. It looked just like a paint-by-number canvas, fresh out of the box.

"W" stands for Wind! These large sheets of paper were like sails in the 30 m.p.h. winds. Gotta love that duct tape!

Cold weather painting. I love it!

Clarence, my cat. He is completely orange and white, except for this black patch on his forehead. It’s the perfect target for a loaded paintbrush.

The finished sign, just before delivery to Taste Buds.

The left side completed. The photo is slightly out of focus.

The right side completed.