sign Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Sign Smith Sign Painting

Chili’s Big Mouth Burger Interior Sign

This interior sign was done for Chili’s Restaurant in Aliso Viejo back in 1997. I believe they contacted me from the phone book.

I did all the interior signs for this store and they were all on brick walls. At the time they furnished the patterns but the technology wasn’t good enough to get a clean pattern. The pen work had too little detail and there was no flow to the lines as I remember.

I requested a picture of the logo and enlarged it, then I did a trace over for a transparency to use with the overhead projector.

I used a large hand held pounce wheel to make the transfer holes. I used felt as a backing for the wheel on pattern paper. Whenever I’ve worked on brick or any rough surface the need for larger holes is imperative because of the rough surface. I had an electric pounce machine but the holes were not adequate.

The brick was also brutal on my fitches but the job was finished in the time frame given. A ‘fun’ job!

Breezy’s Lookout Hand Painted Sign

I 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.

Bonita Ranch Outdoor Sign

Bonita Ranch has an outdoor billboard sign to identify its campground. It is located in the Devore Pass at Lytle Creek, Calif.
I had found out an old friend of mine owned the place and I stopped by awhile back and noticed that the existing sign was in bad shape. I suggested to the owner that I’d like to do a couple of sketches and if she liked the ideas for the new sign I would give her a price.

Becky loved the sketches and after adding some amenities to the sign she ok’d moving forward. It is a 4’x10’ and back framed with 1×4’s. The sign is primered front and back and the background painted with enamel. I hand lettered all the copy with One Shot enamel and camel hair brushes.

The waterfall is a focal point at the campgrounds. It sits up on the mountain but is visible from the site. Bonita Ranch sits next to Lytle Creek and is quite beautiful and gives the impression you are deep in the mountains.

The illustration of the waterfall I painted from a furnished picture of the waterfall and used my overhead projector to place it on the sign.

I delivered the exterior sign and Becky contracted out the installation. They did a good job of removing the old sign and installing the new exterior identification sign.

Bistrot Massilia Business Sign

An A-frame business sign is what this French Restaurant in Yorba Linda needed. I play piano there, part time.

When I started playing there I noticed that they had no outside advertising for Jazz piano. The idea of the piano was based on the Bistrot’s of Paris in the 1930’s when jazz was so popular, as I’m sure it is today. The idea has been a good one.

So, I did a couple of show cards and also convinced the owners that an A frame exterior sign would help bring in the customers. A-frame exterior signs in my opinion have always caught the eye so to speak. I’ve done quite a number of these ‘point of purchase’ signs over the years.

I designed the sign in CorelDraw and tried to keep the French motif. It was satisfying work, researching fonts that would make a good design. All the colors and panel shapes help to make this sign stand out and be noticed.

This A-frame sign has proved to be an asset that the Bistrot Massilia didn’t count on, showing that ‘point of purchase’ advertising does work.