In the fall of 2012, I was contacted by Terry Kemp the secretary of St. George Light Association.
They were interested in updating the current sign at the Cape St. George Light Park. This organization of volunteers are largely responsible for St. George Island's pride and centerpiece, the newly restored 1852 era lighthouse. I jumped at the chance to see the site and was thrilled to be invited down. Mr. and Mrs. Kemp gave me the tour and after climbing to the top of the spiraled staircase my legs were so wobbly that I was not sure if I would be able to do a quick sketch which is my custom. On the way down the steps they nonchalantly mentioned how thick the brick walls were and that they were the original bricks painstakingly cleaned of mortar by volunteers.
Photos from
For a century and a half Hurricanes and lesser winds had hammered
The Cape's Light. To the left you see her leaning in photo taken after 1995.
Bold action was taken to correct the 7 degree tilt. A campaign called Save The Light, By the Apalachicola Times and St. George Light Society helped raise money and trued the familiar landmark reinforcing her concrete base. They believed that that their efforts had saved her. But the churning gulf is never still. On October 15 of 2005. The beacon finally succumbed to the inevitable.
On December 1, 2008,
The restored Cape St. George Light was opened to visitors at her new location. It is rightfully a source of pride and a must see for anyone visiting Franklin County Fl.
My rough sketch done on location with Jim & Terry Kemp on my first visit to the CSGL
and my finished design which was accepted by St. George Lighthouse Association, Apalachicola Maritime Museum and Franklin County Tourist Development Council.
The new sign will serve two purposes: identifying the Park which include the Light itself, it's Museum & Gift Shop as well as the island's Visitor Center and be a photographic backdrop for visitors. The sign will largely be hand-painted with some decorative, dimensional pieces. I will be going to great lengths to add some dimensional effects even to the flat painted areas.
Hard Edged
The panels are 3/4 inch thick medium density over-laid plywood or MDO. MDO has always been an exceptional product used in the sign industry. Because of the extreme coastal environment we took special care to prepare the panels with great attention paid to the edges.
Above are the Four 36x96 inch panels. The edges have been sanded and all holidays filled. Face edges are slightly rounded over to better accept two applications of protective marine grade epoxy. All before priming and finish coatings were applied.
Some Tricks I've Taught My Paint to do...
On some portions of the project I chose to utilize paint masks, The County's tourism logo features
a loose script with a gradient. The top of the the "Franklin" script is dark and gently lightens to a subtle aqua tone. This is achieved by laying on 3 colors and blending them together with a small paint brush. By relying on the mask to actually form the graphic itself I could concentrate on getting the blend to emulate the beautiful hues of the coastal shore.
Sign Panel on the shop bench
In this close-up of a few letters I have demonstrated a faux 3D effect.
How to paint a flat letter with an indicated beveled edge. A source of light is chosen. 4 tints of gold are mixed, 1 being the lightest, and 4 being the darkest. The light source is from the top and the left. So the gold color #1 is on that side of the letter. Gold color #4 is bottom and slightly to the right. #2 and 3 make up the far left and right respectively. You'll notice that by adding some smaller gold breaks/daubs into the adjacent color at the curves a gentle illusion of blending takes place. A darker shade of the background paint was mixed and a drop shadow was painted to the lower right of CSGL to further replicate a third dimension on the "flat" painted portion.
Work is in Progress More Soon to come...
