I get a lot of questions from people wondering how I do my work…so I’ll show you a peek inside my studio.

Some of my projects require a site visit. I have done a lot of traveling for my projects, from just inside the Arctic Circle in Alaska, to the swamps of Southern Florida…and lots of places in between!

 

But lots of my projects are done completely from my studio – via phone conferences with my clients, and researching in my own library of resource materials.

I have a strong background in earth sciences, but I still spend a lot of time researching the topics on my signs.

 

I pile resource materials around me, and get to work jotting down ideas and making little sketches. I work on writing and illustrating simultaneously.

I put a lot of work and thought into developing themes and topics for each sign and continue working on and refining the interpretive text all throughout the design process.

 

 

 

My favorite part…the painting. I do all my illustrations the traditional way – watercolor and other media on paper.

 

 

 

The painting area of the studio gets lots of natural light from the “light well”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first step in the design and illustration process is Preliminary Design, sometimes called Concept Design. This is where I work out my ideas quickly at a very small size. The preliminary sketch shown at the left is only about 6 inches tall.

Compare that to the finished painting which is about 18 inches tall and much more finely rendered.

The preliminary design stage is important because it gives the client a chance to see the idea before all the work is done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The finished painting – ready to be scanned and placed into PhotoShop, where I make adjustments and sometimes add or subtract layers.

 

 

 

Once the design is ready, I make pdfs and send them off to my clients for review. We usually have several review/comment opportunities before the signs are ready to be sent to the sign fabricator.

At this point, I work a lot on the sign text, revising and rewriting it so it works better with the finished images.

 

 

 

 

Printed directly from my design files, the sign design looks like this. I send the design files to the sign fabricator, who uses the files to manufacture the final sign.

Note: the gigantic signature you see on this design does not appear on the final sign – it’s just there because this is on the web!

 

The fabricator produces a high-resolution print and laminates it into a durable, exterior grade material. I usually ship these directly to my clients who take them out to their trail or park and install them on site.

 

 

 

The fabricated sign is laminated into a 1/8 thick piece of solid, durable material. This thickness fits easily into an aluminum frame like the one shown below. It is also possible to get the signs at 1/4 or 1/2 inch thickness, for different styles of frame installations.