If the Creek Don’t Rise, and the Cows Are Friendly

“Add some of the colors in the rest of the sign illustration to unite the sign design,” advised Deri Russell, owner of Wildwood Signs (Hanover, ON, Canada). The client for this sandblasted, hand-illustrated farm sign specified the hunter green, navy blue and red color scheme, which Russell adopted to illustrate the thoroughbred, the cattle (“the sneaky kind that try to attack you when you aren’t looking”), the farm name and the first names.

Russell used a homemade Grain Fraim and a scroll saw to shape the 56 x 53-in., 15-lb. HDU sign and blasted it with silica sand at roughly 80-lb. pressure. She doesn’t apply overcoat to the latex paint, a practice she started in 1998, when she began using only HDU. “I haven’t had any problems so far.”

When cutting out the sign, save the off-fall. Russell said the curves can be used for sanding the edges smooth if you cover them with sandpaper. “They’re good for ovals and weird curves,” she said.

Also, when photographing farm animals, stay on this side of the fence. Russell said, “I swear those cattle know humans are going to market them relatively soon. And, if you forget that tip, don’t rip your jeans jumping the fence.”