Arcola, Illinois A WALLDOG EVENT

What exactly is a WallDog?
A walldog is a name that we sign painters who do wall work fling at each other. There are very few of us left who are still practicing this type of sign work. Because of technology and local sign codes, commercial wall work has been dying a steady death by attrition for several decades. However there is a bit of a revival afoot in some communities. The charm and distinctive appeal of murals are gathering support among the civic art lovers. About 20 years ago A group of Dogs gathered to paint some murals for the sake of a community and the love of thier craft.
They had such a good-time of artistic fellowship that there has been a walldog event at least once a year since. For more info visit www.thewalldogs.com

 Nancy and I drove to Arcola, Il. in June of 2012. There we gathered with about 150 sign painters and muralist. The goal was to enjoy a 4 day long festival, the art and the artist would be the guests of honor. We enjoy the get together and leave the town with 15 professionally painted murals as a tourist attraction.



Pre-arrangements
 I did my re-con work and found two project leaders whom I have admired for years. The first was Michael Clark of Aledo, Il. and Dave Correll of Fairbault, Mn.
Both of these men are legends of sign-making and active in the walldogs. I was grateful that they were willing to let me join their team of very talented artists.
  

I was responsible for the small lettering to the right of Nancy.

 The wall had the texture of this morning's dried oatmeal.

 Did I mention it was hot?

Dave Correll's, Not Your Average Joe Mural:
 In many small towns there are quiet heroes of the WWII generation. These fellows answered the Nations call of duty by the hundreds of thousands. Few would be egotistical to think of themselves as heroes. This would be a slap at all of their buddies who sacrificed as much or more in some cases.
  Joe Earnst of Arcola, was one of these men. Joe was highly decorated but he never told anyone back home not even his wife of 50 plus years. The men of that war just didn't talk much about what they did and saw. At the gentle, patient prompting of the town doctor, Joe began opening up, relating his experiences with him in a local coffee shop, all over several months. We have all seen the documentaries about the Allies landing on Omaha Beach and the bravery demonstrated by the men as they faced overwhelming fire power and carnage. The Allies waited as long as their window of opportunity would allow for weather to cooperate but finally push came to shove. Few know that there was a secret mission made up of volunteers. In fact the volunteers were trained not knowing what there mission was. At least 20 ships would be sunk at strategic spots off those beaches to act as break-waters against the currents that threatened the largest amphibious assault in world history. These volunteers would set off explosive charges within the bow of their own ships then race to the stern with little hope of survival. Joe signed on for a suicide mission.
 Joe sat on the ass-end of his half sunken ship and endured several days of Hell on Earth. It was only after the invasion was over that he was rescued from his on-board perch. He related to the town doctor that he could not believe that there were so many ways a man could die. Joe would know, he had a front row seat to the whole thing.
 For many reasons I was honored to work on Arcola's mural of tribute to her favorite son. He lived a descent, quiet life in their midst. Joe came to the mural site and watched us paint every day. Can you imagine all that Joe must have been feeling as he saw his youthful image materializing larger than life by our team, all while being thanked, and interviewed that week?

 It has been my observation that Dave Correll is a bit reserved in demeanor. He will blush as he reads these words. Over the last few years I have been more active and aware of what is happening within this business that I love. I have met many sign-men who are true artists. None, in my opinion are more helpful and talented  than Dave. He may be the finest all around sign-maker working today. You may see this for yourself by visiting his web sight: http://www.brushworksigns.com/
 Dave has helped those of us in this field by sharing the typefaces that he has designed over the years. They are showing up nationally in films and advertising. Some of the fonts utilized in the "Joe" mural are his own. They may be viewed and purchased at: http://www.letterheadfonts.com/fonts/artists/davecorrell.php
 It was a career milestone to work with Dave.

Earnst and Correll center

Broom Corn Festival by Michael Clark

Col. John Cofer planted the first field of Broom Corn in Arcola in 1859. By the end of the 19^th Century Arcola found itself at the center of the broom corn industry. Broom corn was the primary crop grown in the area until the mid 1920s.  Titled as the “Broom Corn Capital of the world,” Arcola is still has significant ties to the industry.
Every fall since 1972, the Broom Corn Festival has been celebrated in downtown Arcola. The Festival was a reincarnation of the former Homecoming Festival that had long been retired. Recognized by the Champaign News Gazette as Central Illinois’ Best Festival, crowds of 60,000 descend upon Arcola’s Main Street every year for the festival. Attendees enjoy the National Sweeping Contest on Friday, enjoy live entertainment, view over 150 vendors, run in the 5 and 10 k races, enjoy the parade and a variety of other activities throughout the weekend.

Clark is 2nd from the right

Now Michael Clark is gregarious with no reserved bone in his body, I doubt that he will blush upon reading this at all. Honestly, that is why I wished to work as a member of his Team Broom Corn.
 He started painting signs in 1983. Since that time, Michael has expanded his artistic sign business and has created a number of pieces of fine art. In 1992, he joined a group called the “Letterheads,” which led to his early participation in Walldog meets. Since that time, Michael has been the project leader at numerous meets and was the event coordinator for the Western Illinois Wallbash meet in his hometown of Aledo in 2005. He finds away to work in flourishes into his designs as well as his entrances, Always lifting spirits wherever he finds himself.  Ok, He's a card. See Michael Clark's fine work: http://www.clarksigns.net

   

You pick up the local flavor at a WallDog Meet The murals are typically of historical significance to the town. Here I am receiving some love from the Grand-daughter of  Johnny Gruelle, creator of Raggedy Ann and Andy, in front of the David Butler mural which honors him, an Arcolan.

This is Mr. Yoder who runs The Dutch's Kitchen right in the heart of Arcola. He purchased one of 6 commemorative panels that I created for the occasion.

Havana's General Store Concept/Design/Painting

Havana Florida, traditionally a rural tobacco town. Like other small Southern communities, has faced her paradigm shift head on. Re-inventing herself to attract a broader spectrum of commerce. Now the hometown-like streets are lined with boutiques, cafe`s, art and antique galleries. None of these are more charming than the recently renamed HAVANA'S GENERAL STORE. It is filled with nostalgic treats, toys and other delights
.

 When HGS's owner, LeAnn Sbordone called about signs for the rename I was naturally excited by the prospects.

The Concept:

LeAnn proffers some tasty treats, her labels sport a graphic with an old farm truck. She wanted to carry that same theme on to her signs. It is wise to put the horse before the cart; recognizing the value of creating a brand on all of her advertising for the sake of consistency, right from the start.

Serving a client who is this intuitive is a delight. Before the end of our initial meeting, I was able to confirm her vision with an on-site quick sketch at her desk.

Designing The Graphic:

 After successfully locating a perfect working source image of an early 1955 Chevy pick up. I owned one of these trucks but that is another story. I began the work of creating the HGS graphic. The image was posterized in Photoshop. Filtering away thousands of the colors in the photograph. Reducing them down to about 5-6 and all of them in masses for a less photographic approach.  

 I had a faded-out approach in mind. LeAnn saw things more vibrantly as shown in the approved, final comps.

Next the altered image was placed into Adobe Illustrator to transform the raster image into manageable vector form. Vector art consists of closed shapes with defined paths or outlines.

I would be relying heavily upon the outlines for the completed sign.

Prepping For Hand-Painting:

 An ol' timey general store sign with an antique truck graphic simply screamed to be painted in the traditional hand-painted way. This is my niche! Below I'll show you those outlines in order to demonstrate how they make suitable guides to paint to. Do you remember those old "paint by number" sets from childhood?

Many sign-makers have transitioned to latex house paints for graphics because the colors stay fast in harsh environs. These waterbased paints are slower to paint with and the richer hues must be double coated.

It was a pleasure to give you a glimps of what goes into the design and fabrication of a unique project like HAVANA'S GENERAL STORE.

Next time you See LeAnn be sure to ask her about her pickled okra. It's the finest in North Florida.