Signwriting ‘The Wedding Bell’ for Cool Canvas Tent Company. This should direct the happy couple to their luxury romantic boudoir/bell tent nicely. Emulsion on wood and 2 coats of yacht varnish. Ding Dong!
What’s a Cinderella gigglemug? Remember ‘that thing at a fairground that you poke your head through while your friend takes a funny picture’? I painted one a while back for the nice folk at Miracle Theatre and they wanted another for Cinderella – this year’s Christmas Pantomime at The Princess Pavilion, Falmouth. This meant painting over the old one and creating a new design featuring an ugly sister and a pumpkin/bomb-bearing rat(!?) I’m sure it will all make sense when you see the show – which I recommend you do. Miracle pantomime’s really are always a special treat and a highlight of our Christmas. The ‘Gigglemug’ is now in the foyer of Falmouth Art Gallery and Library on the Moor. Pop in and stick your heads through ‘that thing at a fairground that you poke your head through while your friend takes a funny picture’, or Gigglemug…
Silly faces at Falmouth Art Gallery. Thanks Alice and unsuspecting passer-by!
Punch and Judy booth at St. Leonards Chapel, near Skegness.
The Punch and Judy Booth I recently painted for www.amazingcameraobscura.co.uk is up and entertaining the happy folk of Chapel St. Leonards, near bracing Skegness! The Punch & Judy Professor is also happy, as are Lincolnshire Borough Council. Always a pleasure to work with Tony at Amazing Camera Obscuras, who built this booth (in the driving rain, apparently!) and who displays his Amazing Camera Obscuras around the country. If you’re going Glastonbury Festival make sure you experience this Marvel of Nature and Science at the Green Kids Field. See my earlier posts for more on Camera Obscuras!
Soon to be installed on a sunny East Coast seafront this Punch and Judy frontage took two weeks to complete. In all the years I’ve been sign writing I think secretly I’ve always wanted to paint one of these.
Tony at www.amazingcameraobscura.co.uk did the construction and build of the complete booth (pics to follow soon..) I love every stage of this kind of job, from the drawing and painting on a large scale to my favourite bit – the beautifully satisfying applying of varnish which almost magically brings out the vibrancy of the colours. That’s the way to do it!
A busy few days working for Miracle Theatre, Cornwall and their winter show “Doctor Livingstone, I presume?” It’s one of those ‘end of the pier’, fairground, ‘pop your head through a hole and have your picture taken’ things. (What are they called?) If anyone can come up with a name I’d be most grateful. Five days and late nights of illustration, tracing, painting, masking, building, spraying and varnishing later and we had our bespoke ‘stick your head through a hole…’ thing finished and ready for the Miracle Theatre tour of Cornwall. www.miracletheatre.co.uk
Signwriting of Camera Obscura was recorded over weeks to make this simple stop frame slideshow.
Dipping into the paint over a period of a few weeks and the sign gradually takes shape. Background colours are applied using water based paints prior to adding outlines, text and details. The sign is finished with two coats of varnish. Details include a fishing boat and net sheds unique to Hastings.
Awaiting delivery to amazingcameraobscura.co.uk for installation on Hastings Stade seafront.
By fitting the design into a grid of 20 x 10 I can work out the correct size to transfer to the wood in the workshop. The design is scaled up and pencil-drawn onto a sheet of primed and undercoated high quality 12mm plywood. Once the design is fully drawn I can cut the profile of the sign using an electric jigsaw. All bare edges are then sanded, primed and undercoated. Prior to starting painting the entire surface is given a light sanding and a second undercoat wash to ensure a smooth surface. The next stage is to attach 2 x 2 square battens to the reverse of the sign in order for it to be later bolted to the front of the Camera Obscura doorway by www.amazingcameraobscura.co.uk
Stage 2 of the camera obscura design and signwriting project is to add colour to the line sketch. The final colours, when painted, will change but this is a useful guide and brings the design to life. The next stage is to order the wood and buy materials to construct the facade – out of the studio and into the workshop at www.igloostructures.co.uk
If you still don’t know what a Camera Obscura is, check out www.amazingcameraobscura.co.uk to find out more about a Scientific Marvel and a Wonder of Nature!
Camera Obscura colour sketch
Stage 1 of design and signwriting of new camera obscura for amazingcameraobscura.co.uk
Research, collect reference images and design rough layout – a collage of photos, engravings and typography. This is then traced on a lightbox to produce a line sketch.
