Follow-Up on Welcome Sign

The next step in crafting a Welcome sign is coating the board in gesso. I start in one direction, such as portrait orientation, and brush a single layer on. Then, after it dries, I brush on a second layer in the opposite direction (landscape.) While the layers of gesso are drying, I dab the edges of the board, which are more spongy in texture, to fill in the craters. Once dry, you can flip the board over and cover the back in the same manner as the front. (I'd recommend doing the whole process over several layers of newspaper.) 

(Also, my brush had fresh gesso in it when I took this photo. I would not recommend letting it dry with the paint in it, or forgetting about it, during the process.)

I actually changed my Welcome-sign design since last post. Someone pointed out to me that "Welcome to my home" carries the connotation that the owner of the piece is single or lives alone, and changing the phrase to "our home" would have just the opposite connotation. To make the sign more versatile, I changed the phrase to "Welcome to this home."

Also, though still rustic, I decided to replace the chicken and tree with daisies (which only have stems right now), and to fill the font in with a sky-blue, cloud pattern. Most of what you see in the painting below are just base layers, meaning that I haven't gotten any of the details in yet, and the design is still a little rough; but the concept is present in that the warm colors help establish the mood of a welcoming, warm home. Here's what I've got so far:

This upcoming week I'll be cleaning up the edges, adding daisies, clouds, and maybe even butterflies, and also looking for found objects. My hope is to have some smooth stones and twigs to paste onto the surface, and twine to either crochet or line around the edges. If anyone has any questions about the painting process, (I'm using acrylic,) feel free to ask! Until then, have a great week. :)