Getting carried away (as usual)

[Dan Sawatzky]

I like so many other artists love my work. Sometimes (often) I get carried away on projects - especially when they
aren't being done for money. Its a chance to be outrageously creative and I simply can't resist.

For our Router Magic Workshops I like to do a name plate for each attendee. Its a chance to strut our stuff a little,
create a momento for each attendee to take home, and these name plates also show just what can be done if you
combine plenty of imagination, some hand skills and some fancy tools, (along with some good old fashioned ones too)

Our 5th Router Magic Workshop is coming October 10-12. I'm excited as always for its a chance for me to learn too.
We in turn share everything we've managed to figure out in the last twenty years in our workshop.

This go around we have some wonderful 'students' coming. And as per usual I got a little carried away with the name plates.
We will go back to the more subdued dimensional name tags on the next workshops but this go around I'm determined that
everybody who attends gets an outrageously fun project...

Here's some pics of the projects done to date for those coming

Noella Cotnam has been a friend for years. I've admired her work each and every time I've seen it. Lots of talent here!
She is an awesome bird carver and so her name plate had to have a birdhouse in it.





When Bob Kaschak from New York isn't making his awesome signs he tinkers with jet engines. He showed me some pictures
the last time I saw him and it got me thinking... what would happen if you combined a jet engine, a robot and a router... Here's the result...





Duncan Wilkie from Edmonton Alberta is another wonderful sign maker friend. He has a wicked sense of humor and goes by the moniker
of SignDog. The last time he was in my shop he marked the territory good putting his signdog stickers everywhere. Years later we are still
discovering them. Here's his name tag...





Raymond Chapman needs no introduction to anybody who's been in the sign industry very long. He's a master. He purchased a CNC router
a while back and is doing some pretty nice work with it. We engaged in 'ROUTER WARS' over the last couple of years on the Letterhead site
as a way of showing just what could be accomplished with one of these machines and as a way to encourage others to sshow their creations.
A great deal was learned in the process. I affectionately call his Shop Bot router the 'pea shooter'. When it came time to make Raymond's
plaque I pulled out the stops for it was time to give him a bad time...





Our workshops are put on with the help of EnRoute software. They send one of their top instructors to help with the teaching which is handy
for I am not the most technical person. THis time non other than Jeff Hartman will be our instructor. Jeff along with his brother wrote the program.
At the time they started they owned a signshop along with a CNC router. WHen they couldn't find suitable software to do the things they wanted
they set about writing it. Now, more than 10 yyears later EnRoute is the premium software for making dimensional and textured signs with a router.
Their company is called Artisttic Automation. Jeff is a great guy and an awesome teacher. I had a little fun with his name plaque...





I have a couple more tags in the process... but there's still room for a few others who wish to sign up for this workshop...

Danny Baronian, who attended the first workshop we hosted a year ago phoned me the other day to 'complain' that the name tag he had
recieved looked kinda plain. He sensed a revolt building...

I've promised myself and my partner that from now on I won't get quite so outrageous with each name plate. So if you are thinking of
coming to a workshop in the future this is the last (and only) chance to get something so silly. One more incentive to sign up for this go around...

-grampa dan

[Mike Jackson]

Hi Dan,
Thanks for posting the photos. Keep-em up!

They are terrifically creative.

Mike

[Doug Bernhardt]

Good God, the man is right out of his mind. I also think he has too much time on his hands although turning out work of this caliber it would be hard to believe.

[Dan Sawatzky]

They only look complicated. I knew I was stepping into deep water when I did the first piece for this workshop. For once you set a standard its impossible to go back. Especially if you want every attendee to get the same treatment and take home the same level of piece.

My goal is to design pieces which reflected each attendee's personality and/or interests. I set a time limit of four hours of my time per piece and have achieved it for the most part... believe it or not. Some pieces went a little faster and some didn't. I actually made duplicates of a number of them so I could keep an example here in my own studio too. The router makes that possible thankfully! The CNC router and the amazing EnRoute software make it pretty easy once you suffer through the learning curve. Although these pieces look to be somewhat complicated they aren't really. The secret is to break them down and build the elements separately then combine the basic elements in the software... thinking it carefully through first. The router doesn't care how complex a file is sent to it and makes short work of the tough parts. Most of these pieces are only a couple of parts which are assembled after routing the two halves, There's not much handwork there save for assembly and the painting.

The painting is designed much the same way... thought out and executed to be easy. Large areas are painted first slopped on with a big brush. I machine the piece with raised edges between the colors that are easy to cut with the brush. Then we apply acrylic glazes over the whole thing to soften things up a little and highlight the texture we have created. The glazes also add visual texture to the pieces which I personally love!

These are exactly the things we teach at the workshop... how to design with outrageous style but still in such a way we don't create too much work for oursleves... look complicated, relatively easily achieved.

-grampa dan

[Doug Bernhardt]

Dan....I love the projects but have a question about the glazes. What do you mix with the acrylics to get your glaze?....or I guess better, what is the medium?

[Dan Sawatzky]

With modern formulations of paint who knows what's in them these days! I don't like mixing different brand paints and products. We used to simply water down our acrylic paints to get stains, but longevity wasn't always the result... and they tended to be real runny and hard to control when applying... so what to do??? We do very little spraying in our shop as I love the hand done look of a brush aplied paint. It doesn't get slick and machine made. The paint stage is also the last time I get to apply texture to a project - something impossible to do with spraying. There's just magic in a brush that can't be achieved any otehr way!

When I was at the paint store having some paint mixed one day I noticed the darkest colors come in a clear base into which colorant is mixed. So I asked for a gallon of that with no tint in it. The paint store guy figured my request was unusual but I just knew it would make a great medium for our glazes/stains giving them lots of body without going to another brand of paint for a medium. They look milky in the can but dry clear... PERFECT!!!

We prime normally, using Coastal Enterprises water based, thick-bodied primer on our HDU. We use a brush and in the process often add even more subtle texture where desired especially to lettering. Then we apply two base coats of paint - General Paint acrylic, exterior semi gloss in most cases.

Then we mix our glazes using a 50/50 mix of this clear tint base and our regular acrylic paint with tint. (or slightly different ratio depending on the effect we want) We mix in high quality acrylic paint of the same brand so there will be no compatiability issues. I buy empty quart cans and label them for easy reference later. We have quite the selection of colors on our shelf now. I like to layer two or three (or more) different colors of glaze on most projects now. It adds a subtle richness to our projects that has to be seen to be appreciated. At our shop we use General Paint (not available in the USA) Although I have not tried this method with other brands of paint I would recommend trying it with any top end paint (like Porter Paints) in the US.

The projects we have done with this method are holding up well in our tests outside. Some are more than three years old and in direct sunlight and out in the weather.

I recommend this method as its worked well for us. I'd also apprecate any feedback on the results you get in your shop.

I'm always up to learn something new in Yarrow...

-grampa dan

[joe cieslowski]

Dan,

Thanks for the info......your timing is perfect for me!!!! I'll be doing my first ever acrylic painting on a couple of horses and it seams that your process will fit the bill nicely!!!





Thank You!

Joe

[Doug Bernhardt]

Dan.....sounds like a great process and clever as " I'll get out" using the base as a medium. For a moment I was afraid I was going to hear you just thinned them out. I know artist use medium for the same reason and it's reliable as " I'll get out!!" Joe......beautiful carving (as usual) and am sure this process will work although I might be careful as to what acrylics I use. Might be time to take a survey. The artists acrylics may not hold up outside but I've never tried myself. A guess my be that the artists medium isn't up to the job.

[DAVE SMITH]

So very creative.... beautiful work Dan and Joe.
Dave

[Aaron Taylor]

Dan's method is similar to what I use for glazes. I use all acrylic paints (except for some lettering) on all our signs. Most of the signs I build are in direct sunlight at the beach in florida....h@ll enviroment for signage. We have tried a few methods for glazes and found one that works very well. At our local paint supply I looked into the base they use for deck stains, they are milky as well and provide UV protection in the base. They mix up well with the same brand acrylics and we use a 50/50 mix with a very little water and a extender to help keep the paint more 'open'. The signs we have up in the Florida sun shine have held up pretty nice, my two cents if it's worth anything.

[Tony Segale]

seems I got one of those tags around here somewhere...
now, what was the name of that panel?

nice work again, grandpa.

[Duncan Wilkie]

I am so looking forward to Dan's workshop! The lineup of participants alone is exciting. Being around Dan, his crew and his family for 3 days is priceless.
Sometimes it's hard to figure out what Dan and I have in common and why we've developed such a strong friendship. I work very hard to make straight lines and smooth curves. Fine, uniform finishes are my ultimate goals. We all know Dan's methods are from a totally different philosophy, some would say a different universe.
Although our wives have never met, I know they would hit it off immediately. If Dan and I have one thing in common, it's strong, supportive, caring wives, who also happen to be our business partners. There's no one's opinion we respect more and no one we'd rather please.
I can't wait to travel once again, where no sign man has dared to venture. For a guy that seems to fly by the seat of his pants, Dan is fanatical about preparation and content. I can't wait to see what lies ahead.

[joe cieslowski]

Well it's finished. It took a while to get a handle on using the acrylics and I'm certainly no fine artist but the client loved it. The rest of the sign has my usual polyurethane finish. It hangs about 20 minutes from here so I'll be able to monitor it. It hangs north/south and is in dense shade all spring and summer. It should last a long time.



Thanks Dan, the timing on this thread was perfect!!!!!!

Joe

[Raymond Chapman]

For several years Dan and I have been "encouraging" each other. This workshop is going to be something special. Not only will it give me a chance to tap into Grandpa's creativity and see how he accomplishes those great works. it will also allow me some time to harrass an old friend. The list of attendees is very impressive and promises to be a unique time of learning and sharing.