Warren Weikle Flight School Portrait

The third mural commission for WW2 Pilot Warren Weikle, is a portrait of the pilot fresh out of flight school in his "Pinks and Greens" in 1943. As you can imagine, doing a portrait of a living person nearly 70 years after the photo was taken, and to give it the accuracy it deserves and requires to make a great likeness, is somewhat difficult. Not to mention, Warren is very sharp and attentive to the smallest details, thus paving the path for a great portrait, one that is accurate in every way, all the way down to the texture and finish of the Pilots cap.
With all that said I will leave the photos to tell the rest of the story, I have included a few progress shots from the previous mural, and one with myself and the pilot in deep conversation about the movement of a "Finger Four Formation". There is also a note included about the details of the wings that adorn a pilots formal dress, there was more to the note, but I will leave you with this excerpt to get a slight understanding of how fun, and challenging it was to undertake this commission. I love history, and learning, and both were pushed to a healthy limit on these projects. Both this mural and the previous were completed with 90 percent Evolve brand spraypaints, some Montana and RustOleum were used as well.
There are some more things in the works with this client, and I will post about that before long.
Hope you enjoy the work, and I appreciate you stopping in to view the work.

"Portrait of Warren Weikle- Flight School 1943", Aerosol on Door, 36" x 48"

Ink Monstr Sticky Situation Recap

Quick post and some flicks from the show at Weisco Motorcars, of the Ink Monstr Sticky Situation show setup. All the finalists submissions were printed as large scale stickers and applied directly to the brick wall, pretty fresh display! I will let the photos do the rest of the talking, and congrats to the winners, Kevin Daviet, Daniel Crosier, Johnny Tragedy, Nick Hughes, and Sarah Ford.

Multiple New Concepts in One Post

Going to attempt to get a few birds with one post, new mural concept for the Sharpest Rides, new mural concept for an upcoming release party, and a new character design for a tshirt concept commission. More on each very soon, and thanks for dropping by.

Final Plein Air "Dome Skeleton"

Quick post, the DPAAF ended on Sep 20th, this is from the second day of setup on this piece. I had painted from the opposite side of the Civic center in previous years and was intrigued by the new construction going on where the demolition was happening this time last year. All the submissions have been turned in and we are awaiting the word on the excepted pieces. Stay tuned and I will post all of my submissions once I have heard the verdict. Get out and paint from light, it is inspiring and a great learning tool.

Pilot Mural Completed and Clearcoated

As I had mentioned in previous posts, the mural for the WW2 Pilot was near completion. It is now finished and you can see the final shots above. It is a true challenge dealing with historical artwork, and an even greater challenge working with a living piece of history. I don't mean challenge in a negative way, but one that describes the amount of dedication and diligence to see the job through to the end despite any changes or issues the client has with the work. In this instance, we are talking about the specifics of flight gear and attire that are nearly 70 years old, and the specifics of aviation from the same era. In more than a few instances I was asked to change or better describe the details I was painting.
For example, the "Finger Four" formation, has a very specific look, and reason for the positions in which the aircraft fly, this detail was hashed out in a few different sketches, and then changed on the fly in the painting stage. At one point, adding red coloring to the rear fins to indicate the planes were the "Tuskegee Airmen", another great story that the client had included and wanted to have reflected in the artwork.
So many other fine tuned details were worked through and learned about during the duration of this painting, and I feel blessed to be able to share this with a living WW2 era pilot.
I have begun the first stages of the second mural project for this particular pilot and will be posting about that soon. Thanks for stopping in.

Trip to the Mountains

Plein Air piece from my birthday trip out of town, this is outside of Estes Park. About 2 hours working time. Thanks for stopping in.

Sticky Situation Final Ink and Vector

Here are the finals for the Ink Monstr, Sticky Situation show this weekend at Weisco Motorsports LTD., 1075 Park Avenue West Denver, CO. I posted about this graphic earlier, it was an intense crunch to get this to vector, and honestly I think the ink is so much better, but I am getting better at translating high detail ink into digital format. More soon from the event and congrats to all the winners, psyched to see what folks came up with.

Pilot Mural In Progress

In recent posts I had mentioned the start of the mural with the pilot I had done previous work for. Here is the progress and a little bit about the process.
Normally with traditional work or general illustration, the final line drawing is transferred to the board or canvas, and paint is applied immediately after. Not once have I attempted this with aerosol, and here is an example and the results of exactly that change in the process.
This drawing was finalized, projected onto a 3foot by 7foot piece of paper, I then lined the back of the entire drawing with transfer paper, or carbon paper. The next step was to redraw the entire line drawing onto the door surface. I have then been applying spraypaint directly on top of the finished transfer, and it is pretty amazing, but at this scale I have to admit I was a bit skeptical, but alas it is going just fine. I am also quite used to utilizing spraypaint at a minuscule scale, check the links. And check back for the finish and some video timelapse soon.

Small scale aerosol portraiture: Gato Mini
Sculpture Posts: Sculptures Mural Ready

New Concepts on the drawing board

Here are some recent concept sketches and character designs for an upcoming project. Had a great deal of fun with these guys and am excited to clean them up and keep revising them. Check back for more soon.

Last Minute Sticky Situation

Quick teaser and sneak peek of my crazy insane last minute graphic for the Sobe/Ink Monstr Sticker and Art show coming up this weekend. More info soon, but for now enjoy this little gem, psyched how this piece turned out, about 14 hours working time from thumbnail to final vector.
Thanks for stopping by.

Giant Shoe Award for Rev Kelly and ULC

From the post title you might say to yourself, well that is an odd title, but it is actually an existing piece of art that I am currently working on and it is a great challenge, and a lot of fun to imagine someone who is large enough to wear these monsters! You can see the multiple concepts from the pencil sketch, and the direction the organization and myself chose to best reflect Reverend Kelly's work. For more information about Reverend Kelly and his organization Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives please just click the links, and look for more info on the award and ceremony in addition to final presentation photos.
Thanks to Reggie, and Valentina at ULC for the opportunity, and thanks for stopping in.

Custom Shoe Artwork in Previous Posts: Nike Air Max Customs
Shoeshine 5

Ivita Mural 2 Complete

Final photos of the mural addition to Ivita Wellness located on 17th and Pearl in Denver. I will make it brief, posted the progress over the last few posts, and it is finalized, going to clearcoat it and will have some more info and pro photographs soon. Had a great deal of fun with this concept and final painting, hope you all enjoy.

En Plein Air

More from the streets of the Golden Triangle and beyond, Wash Park Nocturne and a piece I from a location I have been looking at for a few years, and of course it was overcast, but an enjoyable piece nonetheless. More to come as the event is closing up.

DPAAF in previous posts: City Park Progress