does anyone on these boards do sign carving?

[Pierre]

Thanks, Gray! This board is very refreshing. Diverse interesting folks here. I’ll probably be hanging out here from now on. I think my daughter is joining today.

[Pierre]

I have given "how to" seminars before, and I’m sure I can give you folks a few new ways to boost your incomes.
You can visit my website to see a bit of my work.

[Robert Lambie]

excellent, excellent stuff Pierre
.
i had a quick look and was very impresed. ide love to show some of your work in the gallery.

i tried my hand at carving a few years back. went out a bought a small chissel set and away i went. not knowing anything about it nor looking into what you do and dont do when carving.

would you beleave i used a fence post about 10" thick. started to hack into it and what have you. in the end it looked great! it took me on & off about 8-9 weeks. it only stood about 16" high. oh i forgot to mention it was a boy sitting on a dead tree. i was very pleased with it 😀
i moved house and i left it behind by accident. not one of my best moves… 😮

i then dabled in clay making a bust of an oldman… again i was very pleased. ill try looking it out i have it some place in my loft. 🙂

the problem i found was i could not find anyone willing to pay for work like this when combining it with signage. it also took up a hell of a lot of my time… but have to say there was great job satisfaction in it.

i moved onto stained glass. this i do to this day. somtimes using it in signs but mostly personalising office doors with company logos done in the stained glass. it doesnt take long to do it and looks terrific when finished..

hope to see more of you on the boards Pierre
! 😀

[Pierre]

Actually, on the page with a lot of carving cameos there are a large number of them that went extremely fast and paid somewhere around $185 an hour to accomplish. Unless there’s true dimensional artwork (illustrating type) involved, it’s MUCH easier than you think.
I’ll plan a quick seminar on "how-to" even if you’re not remotely a carver.
I’ll email you a few of the more interesting ones for your gallery. That cool?

[Robert Lambie]

brill pierre!
i look forward to seeing them.
i am interested in this line of work. ive been doing some very simple 3 dimensional work using sign foam 2. do you use this or is it all wood?

many thanks for any replies

[Pierre]

Robert, I used wood for years, but now I use Precision Board. The 18 and 22 pound are as dense as wood is anyway, but it carves much better. No grain inconsistencies.

[Robert Lambie]

Good to hear Pierre
I thought you might come back with some technical jargon about how it wasn’t up to much… phew. 😳

18-20? ill make sure its the same precision board im using.
I have also routed letters in this stuff then mount it onto Perspex to create an outline. I did my first one about 2 years ago or so. I went back to do another sign just next to it for another customer. So I went up and had a look. This stuff had not chipped the paint, flaked you name it. It was perfect. I was well pleased. 😀
I see in sign craft there is now sign foam 3 have you tried this? If so, what is the difference? Is it denser?

[Pierre]

The only paints we use now on our carvings are all water based paints. We overcoat with a one-part clear from POR15 called Pelucid. I don’t know if it’s available in GB, but you can go on their website at http://www.por15.com and contact a rep.
Colors stay clear, bright and maintenance free for years. At least they have for the 7 or so years we’ve been using it.
I haven’t tried the new SF3, but I would suppose that SF and PB both will work well for you.

[Zoe Cattell]

Sorry to chime in a little late…
I do carving and murals I’m not in the sign business but I’d like to be. How do you find clients? When I got a website I thought that my phone would just start ringing LOL! Anyway here’s some links to some of my sculpture projects for anyone interested:

Cartoon Trees

Theming for Water Parks – 3D Trees

Themed Water Park Attractions – Six Flags ‘Ship Wreck Splash’

Water Park Carvings – ‘Ship Wreck Splash’

Artist Carving 3D Foam Ship Wreck For a Themepark

Themeing for Water Parks – Six Flags Over Georgia Skull Splash

Water Park Props – ‘Skull Island’

Water Park Attractions – Skull Splash Roof

3D Foam Props for Water Parks – ‘SKULL ISLAND’ Six Flags

Sculptures for Water Parks – Three Dimensional Skull for Six Flags’ Themed Waterpark ‘SKULL ISLAND’

Water Park Theming – Bell Tower for Six Flags

Water Park Themeing – Bell Tower

Water Park Sculptures – Carving Bell Tower

Three Dimensional Signage – Calloway Park Sign

Three Dimensional Signs – 3D Sun Carving

3D Water Park Attractions – Mermaid

Playground Themeing – Toddler Town Facade

House Facade 2

Giant Clog

Canoe

Theme Park Attractions

Theme Parks Exhibits – Cartoon Snake Slide Exit

Amusement Park attractions – 3D Pirate

3D Sculpted Pirate Ship

Amusement Park Sculptures – Octopus Sign

IAAPA Booth

IAAPA Themeing – Eel Slide Exit

Theme Park Props – 3D Pirate

Amusement Park Props – Pirate Head Sculpture

Chipmonk Head Sculpture

Softplay Corvette Soft Sculptures

Playground Sculptures – 3d Shark

Faux Marble Sign

Tree Houses

Tree Bases

Robin Cat Reliefe Carving

Skull Chair Movie Prop

Moon Reliefe Sculpture

Parrot Window Relief Sculpture

Alien Window Relief Carving

Picnic Basket

Props for Water Parks – Cartoon Birdie

Cartoon Bird Foam Sculpture

Cartoon Butterfly

Professor Window Foam Relief Carving

Treasure Chest Window Relefe Sculpture

Snake Window Flat Carving

Alien Robot Flat Sculpture

Clay Dragon Maquette

Lion Window Low Relief

Lion Height Restriction Sign Low Relief Sculpture

Snake Head Slide Exit Sculpture

Pizza Pooch Head

Movie Props – 3D Space Pillars

Space Medallion 1

Space Medallion 2

Skunk

Softplay Dinasour

Chipmonks

Clubhouses for Kids

Octopus Slide Exit

Dragon Slide Exit

[Fran Hollywood]

Zoe,

that’s a fantastic portfolio of work.

quote :

When I got a website I thought that my phone would just start ringing

I can’t understand why your designs look fantastic and a good site too. Congratulations.

[Leigh]

Shame – I can’t see Pierre’s website link! 🙁

but WOW
Zoe – you are quite talented! What amazing work you do!
I’m lucky if I can carve a watermellon in half.

Have you ever seen Sawatzky’s Imagination Corporation website?
http://www.imaginationcorporation.ca/

Great stuff

Leigh

[Carrie Brown]

Zoe, that is some portfolio, some great stuff you do, thanks for showing us.

😀

Leigh … here you go: http://www.stmariegraphics.com 😉

[Carrie Brown]

Wow you do some great work Pierre …. I have just had a browse through your site and your signs are fab!! People and their duck colours huh … mallards 😉

😀

[Leigh]

Hey – thanks Carrie.

ah ha
I think I may have actually called you before Pierre 🙂 — about the pelucid.

What beautiful work you produce!