THE INSTITUTE FOR STUDY OF MECHANICAL MARINE LIFE

This is going to be a lot of fun!

So a popular sign camp workshop that was recently held happened to have many of the industry’s greatest all in one spot. A common trait among the best is that they all have a touch of arrogance and a lot of wit.

The sum of these 2 parts creates some exciting banter and of course, competition. Some of these I know personally, while others I know just from our interactions in the sign forums online. But when I had heard that Dan Sawatzky and Doug Haffner had challenged Jamie Oxenham to a challenge, I knew this was going to get good. I had the pleasure of meeting Dan at his own sculpting workshop in Canada. I have a lot of respect for this guy, he does some really amazing work, and many of my projects are effected by the things he taught me personally. Doug and Jamie both are both powerful forces in the industry and I admire their work often. When I saw what was going on, I just had to become part of the action.

Dan and Doug saw Jamie’s sign. A sign he made for The Institute for Study of Mechanical Marine Life. An institution that exists only in fiction. This was just an in-house project Jamie put together some time ago as a fun project for himself.

It kicked off with Dan and Doug bustin’ Jamie’s chops with a smug, “I can do better than that.”
And that’s how this all began. So the challenge is on to best Oxenham’s sign. Even Jamie Oxenham’s himself joined the challenge to outdo himself.

Many competitors are in the challenge. But my understanding is, Dan (Imagination Corporation) and Doug (Haffner Signs) started it all. Jamie (Oxenham Design) is going to have to step up his game this go around, I’ve seen some of the other sketches and this is going to be one heck of a showdown.

While we have several projects in the works right now, I have had a hard time getting my feet wet with this project. But I have finished my sketch and and now there is no turning back. I’ll be blogging about some of my progress on this sign here.

So far, here is my sketch of what I intend to do. It may evolve, mostly because it will have to in order to keep up with the big dogs in this contest.|