Large Hand-painted Signs

Occasionally the store will have signs that stay up for a month or as a long as three. These are the most enjoyable signs to make because I can add more detail and push my skills. My process for large hand-painted signs is to create a grid which I can use to scale up the design. Since the black acrylic boards are very smooth, creating a base layer lets me add and mix paints to create the design. In the video and photos above, I used a Whole Foods Winter flyer (8.5”x11”) as the reference.

Below, the process is close to the same except I didn’t use a design. This was because the sign was based off a tiny thumbnail sketch I did. Instead of using the grid, I drew the sketch directly on the board, then painted a base layer and finally added the details.

In all the signs I created in the store, I used POSCA or Montana acrylic paints. This was pretty much only so that the board could be cleaned and reused later. For more permanent signs I would use oil or enamel based paints. Especially if used outside.