Using Cedar siding for a pictorial mural

I'm a handyman carpenter and over the years I have done a lot of restoration work on houses and occasionally furniture. I've done a little bit of everything. That includes siding in it's various forms. But until tackling 'the giant', they've always been straight jobs.

This is my own house, and I took my time to build the giant. I started in the fall of 2011 and any I'd add to it time I had free and it was over 40 degrees. Fortunately it was a warm winter and I finished in the early spring of 2012. You will see from the before picture that this was a surface in need of a creative solution. The house was built in 1907 and the enclosed stairway was added some time later by someone who gave no thought to integrating the design with the rest if the house. Putting clapboards on to match the rest of the house would not really have made it look like it belonged. I had seen several examples of cedar siding art over the years that gave me the idea to do something different. On my website I've created a gallery to show other people's works as well.

I decided to tackle the project in 2 stages. First I created a sampler of traditional shingle patterns so I could get my head around this project. That's the vertical rectangle on the left side of the wall. That left me with a trapezoid shape. The second stage was finding ...»

something that worked in that shape. I sketched a number of ideas, but the one that worked best was to make it look like a stairway (surprise surprise). Not sure why I thought of a giant, but once I did, it amused me enough to want to create it.

I'm not an artist, but I have studied enough to know what I had to do. I worked with a graphic program to create perspective with vanishing points. In this case one plane is parallel to the viewer: the "wall" in back of the giant (on his left) and the near edge of the stairs. The stair treads and risers as well as the wall that has the arched door has a vanishing point to the left of the house.

Once I had a design I liked, I overlaid a grid on it and blew up and printed up each section. I nailed a story board to the left and used a roofing square to transfer my design on to the wall as I went. This is a bit tricky since each layer you add covers the layout design and you get to draw it again and again.

I would not recommend a project like this if you have never shingled before. It can be very confusing and you have to remember that the most important aspect is not how it looks, but that it sheds water properly. On several occasions, I'd reach a point where I realized there was insufficient overlap and had to redo a row. Two or three times I was able to work around this by sliding a piece of aluminum in place.

I'd be willing to bet that when most people draw a picture they visualize it from the top down. If you're like me, you'll find creating picture in shingles as very unnerving, because the only way you can do a project of this nature is from the bottom up. Just take a deep breath and try again and don't let it intimidate you. I wanted to go slow, so I did all the cuts with a utility knife, a small hand saw, and a coping saw. Of course power tools would go faster, but what really took the most time was thinking each step through. After I finished the project, I found examples of people who cut their pieces in the shop pinning them to a board and then bringing their lay out board to the site.

For a project of this size and scale, I highly recommend using scaffolding. Also it helped a lot to have my wife standing back and overseeing the process. Besides the fact she has a much better artistic eye than I do, I didn't want to climb up and down from the scaffolding to inspect my work, and she caught many a mistake that was more visible from 20 feet away than from 2 feet away.

I got more positive comments from my friends about this work than anything else I've done, but the best part is seeing it every day from my workshop.

You can find other examples of siding art along with helpful links at the website I created to showcase the giant at

http://www.tagyerit.com/ShingleArt/ (http://www.artshingles.com)

30 Comments Displaying 25 of 30 comments | See Previous

Becky H Tampa, FL

What a wonderful way to create a mosaic..............this one is decorative as well as functional, and out of natural materials. I'd put that on a plane with wood sculpting. Really nice job; I truly admire and appreciate it. Lucky you; you get to see it every day!

on Jun 20, 2012 · Like 1
Therese C Greenfield, IA

Unbelievable talent....a great big.. WOWZERS!!!!!

on Jun 20, 2012 · Like 0
Richard N Amherst, MA

I'm thinking that I used 6 or 7 bundles of shingles. I actually used most of the shingles. There was a lot less waste than I expected - maybe a third of a bundle was wasted. There's lots of things I learned along the way so if anyone has particular questions, feel free to ask.

on Jun 20, 2012 · Like 0
Karen K Jacksonville, FL

So creative! Love it!!

on Jun 20, 2012 · Like 0
Bernice H Yakima, WA

This is really unique Richard..I love it! If you had done this here in my town I would be bringing all my friends to see this!

on Jun 20, 2012 · Like 0
Bonnie F Atlanta, GA

Awesome

on Jun 20, 2012 · Like 0
911 Address Signs Lawrenceville, GA

amazing!

on Jun 20, 2012 · Like 0
Betty W Shelbyville, KY

Very artistic.

on Jun 20, 2012 · Like 0
Eclectically Vintage - Ke... New York, NY

You are a rockstar!!!

on Jun 20, 2012 · Like 0
KMS Woodworks Nederland, CO

Is that an operable door up at the top?

on Jun 21, 2012 · Like 0
Richard N Amherst, MA

That's the 'window that thinks it's a door'. I had to replace a rotted hinged window there and had the door, so I decided to cut it in 2, just below the mail slot. It's cut with a bevel so any water will run out. Below the cut is fixed and the top hinges out, just as the original did.

on Jun 21, 2012 · Like 0
Beverly L Norfolk, VA

This had to be a lot of work...good job!!!!!

on Jun 21, 2012 · Like 0
Sherrie S Debary, FL

Richard you do beautiful work. Now you won't like this but I think you should do something creative on the fake door side of the house. Balance the beauty.

on Jun 21, 2012 · Like 0
Richard N Amherst, MA

Thanks - I'll be doing that side in the fall. I'll be knocking around a few ideas till then.

on Jun 21, 2012 · Like 1
Sherrie S Debary, FL

Please post - you make me smile.

on Jun 21, 2012 · Like 1
KMS Woodworks Nederland, CO

cool...I was worried that the first step would be a killer.

on Jun 22, 2012 · Like 1
Remodelando la Casa - Cri... Germantown, MD

How creative! That looks awesome!!

on Jun 22, 2012 · Like 0
Melody L

Your Giant inspires me to let my own creative juices flow a bit more freely.. Thanks also for such a fun intro to cedar shingle art. I'm invisioning a forrest or some flowers on a *very* unattractive stand alone garage currently used as a large shed.

on Jun 26, 2012 · Like 1
Becky Blair, NE

Wow, what an amazing work of art Richard. I'll be looking forward to the next step (lol) you take.

on Aug 22, 2012 · Like 1
Sharron W Memphis, TN

OMG! That is fantastic! How in the world did you decide on the design? So many possibilities...LOL Have you decided what you're going to do on the other "blank Canvas"?

on Dec 03, 2012 · Like 0
Richard N Amherst, MA

Sharron, Thanks - Of the various designs I played with, the giant was the easiest and the most striking. Unless I come up with another idea in the next week or so, the other side will probably have a bunny peaking in a window.

on Dec 03, 2012 · Like 0
Nancy Republic, MO

Richard, you are a true artist! Have you done anything with the other side yet?

on Jun 04, 2013 · Like 0
Richard N Amherst, MA

Hi Nancy, - you can see the other side that I finished this spring at http://www.hometalk.com/chb9du8xsx

on Jun 04, 2013 · Like 0
Chaya K New York, NY

I went to college in Amherst, and I lived on North Prospect St. This would SO fit in in that neighborhood. It really makes me miss the Happy Valley! AWESOME work!

on Jun 04, 2013 · Like 1
Nancy Republic, MO

Wow Richard! I am sooo impressed!! I absolutely love what you've done!!!

on Jun 05, 2013 · Like 0

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Using Cedar siding for a pictorial mural

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