Cover photo: Leaf Greenhouse – Rob Cooper

By signcraft

Posted on Sunday, April 14th, 2024

 

You could do a different sign for this greenhouse, but it’s hard to imagine a more beautiful one than this sign by Rob Cooper, Koh Tao, Thailand. The sign is about 50 in. tall and is carved from a native Thai hardwood that was cut on Rob’s land.

“The carved lettering is painted with three coats of a water-based gold paint,” says Rob. “It looks great and lasts well. The translucent outline is just the background clear mixed with a drop of black. I used the same technique for the green on the leaf.”

The cool background around the arrow was done with a graduated countersink bit at different pressures. “In the old days, I used different sized drill bits,” laughs Rob. “It’s incredible what a small change can make. Always learning…”

There’s plenty of negative space here, which makes the sign even more appealing to look at and read. You can read Rob’s thoughts on taking advantage of negative space in “Is lack of negative space crippling your layouts?

Here’s the carving in progress.

Up close you can see the transparent green on the leaf and the transparent outline on the copy.