The dreaded second side

Back in the day when I actually painted signs by hand I discovered I loved painting truck doors, or at least the first side. The passenger door wasn't nearly as much fun. I found that if I hopped from side to side and then finished both at about the same time it wasn't nearly as boring. With the mechanical fish I used the same technique. Each time I worked on it I tried to finish both sides to the same state in the same sitting. The reward the next time I sat down to work on the fish would be a brnd new section. It works for me.

Tonight after supper I squeezed in another hour or so on the fish. All of the 'metal' plates and rivets are now in place on the body of the fish. Only the two wings and motors are left to do before I move on to the sculpting of the dock and base. I should be able to finish the sculpting on the fish in the next session.

After all those rivets on the mechnical fish it is going to be fun to sculpt some stone work - ar at least the first pillar. :)

-grampa dan

Even on the busiest days a little needs to be done.

In my mind it is important that even on the busiest days some little thing needs to be done, some measure of progress needs to be made towards our goals. Today was a busy day without a doubt but I managed a few minutes on the projects I am working towards. In the house I stroked two small things off my to-do list and chipped away at a couple more. The mechanical fish also got a few minutes attention to work out some details. One side of the back fin was surfaced, one eye got it's trim and the hatch received its door handles and a hinge pin. It wasn't much progress but what I did manage moved me one small step towards the finish line. That's what counts.

Tomorrow is a new day when I'll do just a little more. Stay tuned...

-grampa dan

Bite worse than it's bark?

Samples are defnitely our biggst asset in our shop when it comes to selling imaginative work. They let our customers know the marvelous things we can create for them. I don't believe we can have too many samples.

And yet many sign professionals I run into often tell me they couldn't possibly find the time to create samples. They are simply too busy. In my talks and workshops I explain just how easy it is to find that time. The secret is to spend a few spare minutes working on a project each day- a little at a time. Before long a lot can be accomplished for those spare minutes quickly add up.

This evening I managed to sneak in one hour on my mechanical fish project. An hour goes by pretty quick, especially when we are doing something we love. I did a little sculpting work on the back side of the fish, bringing it almost as complete as the front side. Then it was time for something even more fun. I formed and fit some translucent plastic into the fish's mouth and then sculpted some teeth over this in such a way to allow the red light to spill through. It's a very cool effect! I was looking to make this fish just a little menacing but not terribly scary. Just enough to frighten my fellow competitors. :)

I can hear the 'competition' whimpering for mercy already. :)

-grampa dan