Breezy’s Lookout Hand Painted Sign

Exterior hand painted sign carved high density urethaneI used hdu for this hand painted sign because of it’s durability and ease of carving. I was contacted by a friend of this client who wanted to have a memorial sign made for her friend’s horse that had passed away.

I met with the client at her ranch and she showed me where the sign was to be placed. It was a habit of Breezy’s to stand at this spot and gaze at the country side. She gave me a picture of Breezy and I used this to paint the picture in the oval.

I made a couple of sketches and Vicki picked the one she liked and I did a color comp for her review. I decided to use High Density Urethane board because of the elements. It is 2” thick. This ranch is in Orange and I wanted it to have the old California look. Like the vintage Orange Crate Labels. I hand carved out the background around Breezy to get a ‘leather’ look.
I used acrylic on the picture and enamel for the lettering. I installed the hand painted sign on the corral metal posts using gate hardware.

Paint

A painter's paletteAt one time, mixing lead with pigment and linseed oil made paint. Turpentine was used as a thinner. Sign enamels came into use as a specialty product so they would flow from the brush. Today we have synthetic acrylic paints that are formulated for signs and artwork. They clean up with water.