Rankin Texas Mural

Early last week I found myself 15 foot up a ladder, in a 40 mph wind with spray paint can in hand, catching the smell of fresh beignets and po' boys waft from my 15x70ft canvas. I quickly realized why you dont see a lot of spray paint artwork in West Texas. A strange series of events led me there to Rankin Texas, where, I was recently given the opportunity to check off one of the items on my artistic bucket list, by diving into my first ever wall-sized, outdoor mural.

Special Thanks to the awesome folks at Sweet Nola's Eatery, Aubrey

and Christian. Sweet Nola's is quite possibly the best restaurant in 500

square miles, probably the best Southern Comfort food I've had 

west of Port Arthur, and definitely the best place to eat in Rankin, USA. 

What Painting Has Taught Me About Life

There are several things I have learned from painting that have transferred over to my philosophy for life:

1. Just Go For It-

Just start.  

"But I've never painted before! But, What if it doesn't look very good?! What if the Met doesn't call me right away?!"  

We are all artists. Im willing to bet at some point our work was proudly hanging on a refrigerator somewhere. Today, I love watching kids create their masterpiece before they even know what it is suppose to be. When you're little you are unencumbered by the opinions of others, and you had a blast creating "football playing dinosaurs with lasers for eyes" or a "boat made out of candy that is also a spaceship". Somewhere along the way we lose that fearlessness, we overthink EVERTHING, and it becomes paralyzing to try new things. In a first world sense, a blank canvas can be terriflying. The best way to fight that fear is to put something down... Anything. Mistakes are how we measure improvement.  Consider that first step the ground floor, short of burning the canvas to ashes, you can literally only get better (unless you burned the canvas on purpose. in which case it is considered art.)

2. Push past the rough parts.

Whenever I paint I remind myself that every painting is going to have, what I call, "the awkward junior high period". The Awkward Junior High Period is a transitional phase that can be applied to a lot of things during life's journey. Braces, People we dated, terrible first jobs, Embarassing trends we got really into; they were all a necessary steps that helped us reach our final goal. Resist the urge punch a hole through the canvas. It is important to lower your head, keep pressing onward and slowly smooth out the rough edges.  This is the middle. It is only the end if you're finished. 

3. Step back. Get some perspective every so often.

I've noticed the longer Im painting the closer I get to canvas, The more my eyes cross and the more frustrated I get at a very minute section of the canvas. I take a break, strum a little guitar, take out the trash, pet the dog or write a blog post explaining the Painter's guide to life. Whenever I return to my canvas I have forgotten what little detail I was worried about. Perspective is KEY.  Have you ever seen a Monet painting close up? It looks like when they let elephants paint. Now, step back. Amazing, right?  So every now and then: take a trip. Drive around without a destination. Talk to strangers. Get perspective. You'll find it's not as bad as you thought.

4. There is no right way to do it.

This drives "Left Brain people" crazy. There are no instructions, no blue book, and no way to grade art. Art cannot be explained. Is it good? Is it bad? It is entirely dependent on who is viewing it. If you are happy, then you are doing it right.

5. Details ARE Important...but save them for last.

The key to painting life-like, glossy eyes is a minuscule amount of pure white paint usually applied just below the midline of the eye.  It extremely slight detail but it makes a different. It should also be one of the last things you add to a piece. If watching HGTV with my wife has taught me anything, it is that you can't begin comparing paint swatches for the breakfast nook until you rewire the entire house because the wiring is from the turn of the century that is a fire hazard which would never pass code today, and adding the granite counter tops are going to go over budget but they would greatly increase the resale value of the house and look great with the cabinets along with the new open floor plan but now they found mold which they will have to remove before the construction can continue .....sorry, I digress. Don't get hung up on little things until the big things are taken care of. Believe me, people won't notice how life-like the eyes are if you leave out an eyebrow.

Pittsburgh

This project has been mostly completed for about a month, but I have neglected to upload it because it is still lacking the company logo which will be added later. Cardinal Midstream Energy approached me about a painting that they could display in there Pittsburgh office. The large empty wall in the reception area provide the perfect space for another one of my canvas compilations projects that I have yet to come up with a name for. Much like the Austin skyline, I used several canvas' to give this painting a three-dimensional look to the Pittsburgh skyline and bridges spanning the Allegheny river. The entire project incorporated almost thirty different painting surfaces and I also had to consider shipping the 8-foot wide mural. The actual painting became the easy part, as I had to tap into my inner engineer to figure out a way the painting could be easily broken down, shipped, and reassembled.

THAT THERE'S AN RV: THE Largest Canvas Yet

Picasso, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Monet...what do all these artist have in common? They never saw their artwork on a food truck. I recently saw my largest art piece in Austin on the side of a 1979 Winnebago....So I got that goin' for me....which is nice.

This is a little bit of a throwback, as the truck has been driving around for almost two years now, but seeing it reminded me of how far my Adobe Illustrator skills have come. Thanks to Randy Rogers for allowing me to design this behemoth!

....and I should add, the food is awesome. Probably the best food Ive ever eaten out of a Winnebago.

Ft. Stockton Murals

I recently traveled to Ft. Stockton, Texas to work on a few murals in the Ft. Stockton Nursing Home. By the end of the week I finished 3 murals, encompassing 250 square feet, in a little under 47 hours.  Like most artists I could have spent many more hours polishing each of the murals, but a looming (re)grand opening had me working on one painting while the others dried. While I was there I discovered that the Ft. Stockton Nursing Home is an active Nursing Home which was merely remodeling while I was there. In case you are curious, one is able to paint in an active nursing home like one might perform eye exams in an active Kindergarten classroom. I found out very early that, in order to avoid being shown pictures of great grandkids or being asked to change soiled bed sheets, it would be best to begin working after the residents have gone to bed. Despite the sleep deprivation, it was a rewarding and very valuable learning experience.... and there was the Miss Margie.  It's always nice to see others enjoy your work and Miss Margie in room 303, suffering from Alzhiemer's, would roll her wheelchair out of her room every few hours and pile on the praise and compliments. I would tell her my name again and she would tell me how much she liked butterflies. Every few hours I would be met with the same enthusiasm and praise on this "new" painting. 

Chief Hollow Horn Bear

Below is quick picture of my latest bullet casing piece. Each piece continues to be a learning experience and a welcome challenge trying to get the most out of this unique medium. 

Chief Hollow Horn Bear

30'x36'

Austin Skyline (kindof)

Recently I took on a unique project at the request of friends. They needed something to put on their living room wall and they had a very strict idea of what they wanted. The strict demands for my art work in the space provided is as follows: "something that looks cool".  

We came up with an abstract idea of the Austin skyline with certain liberties taken to add the UT tower and move a few other iconic buildings so they appear like they are on South Congress. I took it as an opportunity to try out an idea I had been kicking around in my head for the past year or so. I would use multiple canvas to give the piece a 3D effect and add to the perspective of somebody looking up at the buildings. The canvases are "stacked" to give the viewer the impression that certain buildings are closer than those in the distance. 

More pictures of the fully complete artwork to come!

UPDATE!

We finally got this sucker on the wall, and wouldn't you know I forgot my real camera. Here's a iPhone picture anyway: