The making of.. The Cobbler Scenic Sign
I set myself the challenge to create an Eighteenth-century American Cobbler trade sign. I wanted to explore the story behind the sign and put some of the skills I’d learnt at the Scenic Painters course to use. I find the process fascinating and want to share some of it with you!
First I needed to establish a story behind the sign, to understand how things would have affected the look of the sign itself. Aspects such as the location, the weather, popular styles of that time and what materials would have been available, all need to be considered.
I picked Boston circa 1750 for the date and location for the Cobbler’s business.
The state of Maine had a huge timber industry - American Pine was the biggest export out of New England. Hot and humid in the summer and severely cold in the winter. The wood would expand and contract, causing cracks. Boston was a port town, and the sea air would have been salty. The wood would weather more quickly and metal would rust.
I took inspiration for the typeface from tavern signs painted at a similar time. They also shed some light on types of fixings that would have been used.
Images from https://connecticuthistory.org
Trade signs show a huge amount of craftsmanship not only with painting and lettering but with carpentry and carving as well. You can see some example of these in my last post, found at the American Sign Museum and House on the Rock.
Autioneer websites are a great source of inspiration for old signage, here are a few examples I found during my research.
Images from www.liveauctioneers.com
I liked the Harness Repairing sign (far left) and how it had been made from a few separate pieces of wood attached with metal straps so I decided to use this concept in my piece.
For the materials, I used a plank of pine, a few pieces of 5mm plywood, an old beer can, some modern hooks and a couple of polystyrene balls.
Ageing Wood
Paying close attention to the reference photos I’d collected, I started to age to wood by carving out the soft wood along the grain using a lino cutting device. I used the back of a hammer to roughen the edges and made some worm holes using a nail.
I added some texture to resemble lichen and proceeded to add patches of various tones of emulsion as a base. I added layers of washes, allowing the texture to do most of the work at this stage and finally added some highlights on the raised areas.
Rusty Metal Fixings
I had a lot of fun creating the metal fixings! I started by applying a black base coat, and added some texture to create a rough finish. I filled in the gaps and added further texture using some car filler.
Next I painted a top coat of dark grey emulsion and added a graphite glaze which I buffed up once it was dry to create a shiny metallic finish.
Finally, I oxidised some iron filings in vinegar to create rust which I applied in patches.
The final touch was adding the text, which I painted referencing the original tavern image I’d found and allowed this to be a bit broken and patchy in places.
