unveiled-revealed

The project I have been helping Martinho Corriea with and devoting a lot time to could not be shared until now as it has been formally unveiled at the Art Box where our studio has been for the past months.

Here is Martinho giving a speech before the unveiling. It was a classy event, everyone who attended was dressed up, I didn't get the memo and I wore my Totoro cat bus shirt and painty pants, i guess thats the benefit of being one of the artists, I can get away with a fashion faux pas.

Back when it was still cold and snowy we prepped the panels and started in on the background brick work. I am looking forward to seeing how this unfolds and listening to an excessive amount of podcasts.

The level of complexity and detail in the mural Martinho designed makes this particular project time consuming. I was given the main task of being responsible for the flags the guys are waving.

We have a complex dixie cup mixing system. The paint needed to be applied about 4 layers on the whites and reds to get bold coverage. At this point most stuff is blocked in and now we can move onto finer details and modelling the forms better as well as adding some values changes to the waving flags etc.

Tedium……….. up and down the step stool, a hundred times a day, limited palette in my life, the drone of the fan, the crappy overhead lighting. Aaaargh, hit the wall then come back. At some points this project was torture, The scale alone is daunting at times…….luckily the monotony of the day can be broken up by amazing food selection on International avenue. We had indonesian, Indian, Lebanese, Chinese, Italian and so on and so forth, Lunch may have been my daily highlight:) Skip way ahead, Maestro Martinho does all the finishing work and completes it and applies tons of layers of protective varnish.

This iphone photo does not do the pice justice.I am really proud and amazed at how the final composition turned out. There is spectacular, sense of movement and a lot to look at. I learned a lot from working under Martinho, met his friends, was impressed by his considerable ability to concentrate and focus for long periods and the level of professional perfectionism he seeks to obtain his artwork. Overall a great experience and I'm glad he asked me to help out on his Mural. It will be hung in the future along 17th International Avenue so keep an eye out for it. He also has a few others along the strip, the Portuguese themed one above Chicken on the way has been one of my favourites to look at while driving into forest lawn for years (his too, to my surprise!)