James River Branch: Old Billboard

The Old Billboard

To be perfectly honest, inspiration for this project came about as a consequence of poor planning. Unexpectedly, the Triangle Bar wound up behind a wall of trees, and I struggled to find ways to improve its visibility ever since. At the same time, I was looking for a foreground project where I could use the beautiful lattice material from StoneBridgeDesigns in an interesting way, and the two circumstances collided into an idea: an old, decrepit billboard located on the little knoll over the tunnel.

The first step was to clear some of the trees from the knoll to make room. Luck was with me, as the GCLaser kit was exactly the right size. The kit provides the makings for a pair of billboards, but since I needed only one, I sacrificed the parts for the second to enhance the first with some extra braces and supports for the lattice. To give the structure the look of being long neglected, I attached one lattice piece at an angle. All of the wood parts were painted with Doctor Ben's Driftwood stain, while the paper components and the (pre-primed) lattice received an India ink wash.

Old billboards that are not maintained can reveal their past in visually interesting ways. Oftentimes images were applied as vertical strips of paper, and over time they would peel away in places, partially revealing the artwork underneath, and I wanted to simulate this effect. I began by pre-distressing the base billboard image using various photoshopping techniques. After printing it on plain paper, I sealed it with spray fixative, then laminated it to the backboard with double-stick tape. After staining the back with India ink, I attached it to the frame with thick CA.

The second image was printed on white decal material, which I sealed with fixative and cut into strips. Then I applied the strips while deliberately making every possible decal-application mistake: some strips were torn, while others were wrinkled, curled and peeled back. After applying one last coat of fixative to keep everything in place, I installed the finished billboard on the layout, disguising legs that didn't reach the ground with shrubbery.

Trees are cleared out from the knoll to provide a home for the billboard.

The billboard kit is enhanced with lattice and other additional parts.

The base billboard image is processed with software to look old and weathered.

The overlay billboard image is aged and printed on white decal sheet.

The decal sheet is sliced into eight four-foot wide vertical strips.

The finished billboard sits amongst the trees and shrubs.