VBS Banner, Part 1

I worked on our church’s VBS banner today! The first picture below is the concept image (done in Photoshop to show Michelle, our Childrens Pastor). The 10′ x 10′ canopy on the platform will be the storyteller’s African thatched-roof hut!

Here are some pictures of how it came together…

First I traced the theme logo on butcher paper. It’s 9′ wide by about 4 feet tall.

Here’s a close-up of the tracing. It’s very easy this way!

After laying the paper down on the table, I began to paint.

While this first banner paint was drying, I painted the African hut wall. The next picture shows it in the foreground–ready to dry.

I got a scare with that one… as I was painting the dark top area all of the water from the tempera paint i was using rejouvenated the glue that held the 3 strips of butcher paper! It started coming apart RIGHT as I was finishing the painting! I managed to salvage it (without getting paint on the carpet!) and get the seams back together. Later I realized that by falling right then it kept me from over-working it! (Something I have a tendency to do on watercolor paintings!)

Alison arrived and helped me finish painting the banner!

The logo banner needed a framework, in order to hold it’s unusual shape straight. I used  1/4″ foamcore (lightweight and rigid), and duct tape. I found some pipe cleaners in the resource room, and taped them on for the twine to go through.

On Sunday I will hang it in the sanctuary. I’ll post pictures of the final project, complete with the storyteller’s hut! It’ll be interesting to see how close it comes to the original concept picture.