Big white brick box mural

It was a busy and hot week-end. I realized as the wind blew and the sun crisped up my skin that this is the first time all summer that I had been out under its powerful rays.

I put down some painters tape to line up where the quote they asked me to paint would go. You have got to make sure to buy the right brand. I think this is scotch #233.  All the other stuff I have bought at the art stores around the city sucks. This roll may have come from Home depot or an auto body shop.

The brick drinks up the paint and takes an awfully long time to paint by hand. It drinks it up and I have to go in between each brick crack to make sure it has full cover. The wooden ladder is scary and precarious.

Curiosity has so many cars slowing down to look, it could be a traffic hazard, making it very effective advertising.

Now to stand back and have a look at what needs to be done next and to run home, and get a little food in me.

Meanwhile I need to cut a stencil for the company name. Here is the large print out I was given so I attached together some large pieces of canvas paper I had in a pad and put the backing down on the floor to protect the lino as I cut.

You can see the painted stencil to the lower left and how it initially looks up the ladder. This ladder is much better but it still makes me nervous since I have no spotter. 

It was so windy the stencil would blow off and the paint would spread so I had to go up the ladder with white and tighten up the edges. It was annoying and I was running out of time and daylight.

I got up the quotations and the authors name by the end of the day.

A few days later Dallas and the crane crew lifted the land rover onto the brick box roof top and the owner put in some nice yellow flowers. Check it out the address is: 1700 - 11th St SE.

Big white box

This is the start of a commercial mural project. Base coat completion.

Xstine cook rode up on her bike to my door on Friday with a rush request to paint some words on the Brick Box studio building in Inglewood. I made a call and we arranged a meeting. Here is the before pictures.
 
 My past student Jesse Gouchey has been painting on this building for an animated graffiti project he has been working on. His work can be seen at his website: http://gouchey.com/
 
Alas, it rained so no painting could be done over the week-end. A few days later I walked over, met the owner and listened to what he wanted me to do. He wanted the box painted over white and a Steve Jobs quote painted on it. He is planning on parking one of his Land Rovers on the roof on Monday and he needs the box ready for the event. His plan is to sell these specialty collector vehicles thru his website : http://www.finevehicles.ca

We drove to Rona and picked up the supplies and I got to work. This ladder is scary to work on and the brick is drinking up the paint. This part is a real pain in the ass and time sucker. But I want to do the best job I can so I'm sweating it out.

Luckily many passers by have improved my outlook. The neighbor brought me some gatorade to help what he called "the beautification of the neighborhood" project. He also offered up the cardboard from his hardwood to protect the ground. Then my buddy Ben drove up after work and offered a paint sprayer. When you have the right tools for the job, the work goes far better. I've never used a paint sprayer like this before, I love it!

I wrapped up as night began to fall. The box is white and the owner and myself are happy with the first stage of the work! Now I have to wait to paint because of other client work and teaching my final cartooning class tonight. But I'm coming up with some mock ups of the lettering he wants as examples before I begin painting.

Keep an eye out, the truck will be lifted on top of the box and the words will be finished by this Monday.

Exquisite Corpse

I had a week long teen cartooning class at ACAD this summer. The students were a really silent and well behaved bunch. far more than I'm used too but I managed to pull them out of their shells and pulled off some very impressive work.

Hulkamania running wild! Here is a piece I whipped up before their eyes to show them the process and some inking techniques using pens, ink, brushes, copic and prismacolour markers.

 

This student explores colour on her final layout.

Here they are hanging their pieces for final critique.
 
It's a tradition I keep........ I like to do something special for the final class.  I did some good old fashioned home baking at midnight the night before our final class. I baked enough of my latest invention: Reese Peanut Butter Cup and Oreo cookie stuffed brownies, for my class, the teen class next door (I didn't want to leave our neighbors out) and the boys in AV, the commissionaires who do security for the college and of course the extended studies administrative staff. It is because of their hard work that my job as an instructor at ACAD is fulfilling.

After the final critique, we all played a drawing game together called Exquisite Corpse. This is a game developed by the surrealists where you fold some paper and each person draws a different section of a figure without knowing what the rest looks like. When you are done you unfold it to reveal the result of the "blind" collaboration. We did this very quick as the critique took longer than I anticipated (that's a good thing!)

Even I got in the game by starting this head then passing the folded paper to one of the students.

This one fits well together, we did these in less than half an hour. More time would have made these even sweeter!

 I love the school girl motif and severed head on this one.

 Hilarious chicken legs.

 This flying one had some real kismet.

 Another bird, but with squid like tentacles for legs, very creative!

 

I did the huge lizard feet on this crazy mish-mash. The exquisite Corpse is a really fun and creative drawing activity. I got to keep most of our creations since it is rather hard to split the difference between us all, but I did offer them to take anyone they liked.

Here are a few of my students hard at work, they were a great bunch and I hope they found new skills and new inspiration to carry with them as they grow through life. I look forward to teaching more summer camps like this one!

This quote covers my sentiments when I teach and inspire my students.
 =:D