The Making of "Hometown Sports Center"

Occasionally, I have the opportunity to create a large foam core board sign. I enjoy the process of building one of these because of the creative problem solving that is necessary. I enjoy figuring out the puzzle, then solving it.

Most of the time I do some sort of preliminary sketch where I figure out the design of the sign. I assign colors to the different parts and decide on measurements.

These two pieces are what make up the base of the sign

This shows one of the base pieces and the stencil I cut to help in painting it.

The tools I'll be using... spray paint, mask, and weights (plastic bottles filled with water).

First the panel is painted a dark blue.


Once it's dry, the stencil is positioned on top.


The stencil is weighted down so paint won't get underneath it during spraying..

I'm using a lighter blue to achieve a subtle, tone-on-tone look.

Painting another piece of the puzzle

These pieces make up the "shooting stars" element.

With most of the pieces completed, they are dry-fitted to see if everything lines up and looks as planned.

I decided to add some detail to the stars to add contrast in a complementing color.

The text on this sign is hand cut and applied. It gives the letters more dimension and adds interest.

The finished product... almost. The last thing that had to be done was to draw in some silver stars on the large text.