Ramsay Community Rink mural

I love my neighborhood, ramsay. I was elated to be awarded the opportunity to do another mural for my community. This time it is along a wall over 100 ft. long near the rink, at the top of the hill. The community decided on my preliminary, had the wall primed and I got to work.

There are a lot of invisible steps when making an outdoor mural. First you have to visit the site and take measurements. Then you have to transfer that data to a suitable design template. 

 Then you have to design it and have it approved, in this case by the Ramsay neighborhood community board.

 After that happens, other parts of the machine need to get going, you need to get money and gather the necessary materials, especially the paint colors.

 I definitely will go over budget on the paint but I'd rather get good outdoor plaint that will last if I am going to put many hours in on this piece.

 I managed to get down most of the lettering free hand, with a bit of planning but no measuring to get them to fit in the length properly.

 Then I begin the elaborate flower of life patterning in each letter.

My initial plan had a much larger circumference but this far more detailed version is due to the garbage can lid I decided to use to construct the pattern.

 It is a challenge to go around the posts so I'll have to create a cardboard shape that can bend and fold around the posts.

 I had a friend pick the paradise blue that will be filled in around the letters.

 My nephew Nolan came to visit and "help" me on the mural.

Stay tuned there is more to come.

My week long Teen Cartooning class at ACAD

I taught an amazing group of talented teens the past week at ACAD. It was a fun bunch, I looked forward to it every day and felt sad knowing it had to end so quickly. Here are some shots from the class that should speak for themselves.

This one is my particular favorite. I brought my care bear onesie that Nicole gifted to me. It was too hot in the classroom for me to wear it while I made laps and rounds. One of the students braved the hot classroom and rocked it out while finishing up his project = awesome!

Well played sir.

Acrylic Studio finishes up at ACAD

My ACAD Acrylic Studio course winds down and comes to completion at the end of the week. Its sad to see the group go but I am so proud at how far they have come and all the advancements they have made, especially those who cam in with zero experience and walked out with finished/ near finishes pieces.

The striped taping effect offers different levels of shine, shimmer and knocks back the background bringing the figure forward once more into predominance.

Daisy begins detailing the foreground elements on her landscape painting.

Sue keeps at it by painting more and more details on her very ambitions bus painting.

The boat piece gets the same sort of treatment in the grass details as she nears completion of her painting, she is always smiling too!!!

I lend out my secrets and teach others how to easily make flower of life designs to experiment and paint with.

It is one of my favorite design making techniques because it has endless potential.

Finalizing the silhouette tree and lamp posts in her first acrylic painting ever.

Once its done the final signing.

Daisy's finished landscape and studio work space with colour study.

Whitney's gem painting after the taping is removed.

The all important final displaying.

We drag over our easels and set up a display gallery in the studio for final critique.

Bam. My girls, their works, a skull named Stan and me.

Acrylic studio course at ACAD (....continued)

Coming in and seeing all the progress each day is very exciting. Then I do my morning lecture and demo.

We do a demo about the tips and ticks I've learned over the years for effective masking, taping, stenciling and shields.

Still blocking in the colours of this one but the grid and drawing are quickly disappearing below.

daisy is making  alot of progress and making changes improving upon the initial colour study.

The colours are popping much more on the black ground than the rubbed in canvas on the colour study above.

The background, table frame and sweater read as flat in juxtaposition to the more realistic rendering on the portrait.

My demo space gets more and more chaotic and full of supplies and examples as we progress. I show different coatings like "pour on", plus varnishes and glazes.

Some stenciled dance pose silhouettes tamped in with iridescent metallic acrylic paints. I love a painted hand, especially this rich Ultramarine Blue. reminds me of Yves Klein blue.

When its dry she goes in with some vertical masking and various glazes to knock back the metallic stencils.

Followed by more layers and thicker stripes of colours.

Studious concentration as they work hard towards their goals.

Daisy makes more progress and on her colour study are some demonstrations of various foreground vegetation techniques.

More dark allows the lights that are put on top to pop and makes it easier to have shadows underneath.

The girls get their tape on and build up the base tones.

Concentration and diligence get you closer and closer to the goal, leaving you with a sense of achievement at the end of the day, if not you've just got to keep going.