War Paint Gazza

The first figure I worked for the War Paint mural is Gazza! Paul Gascoigne was an English professional footballer, and English National team player during the 80s and 90s, more commonly known as Gazza, and for creating GazzaMania. Here are some progress shots as I continuously melted in the ever increasing Denver heat spraypainting the figure.The basic steps are to block in the shadow pattern, and then begin layering color against color to get the desired effect. You can also see some of the smaller details that I added such as the short designs and patch. This piece is nearly complete, and I will be posting progress shots of the remaining figures as I begin the final paintings. Really is a pleasure to begin getting the weighted work into the graphic background, I really enjoy the feel of heavy impressionist paint against clean edges. Look for more from GB's Colfax in the next few posts, and thanks for stopping by.

Week of Remembrance

This was a post I wanted to put up on Monday as a dedication post to Brian Caufield, aka Chasm, who left us in 2009, and lives on through our creativity and heart. I was honored to create two murals of Brian, one in 2008, and the second in LA in 2009, the first of which is in this post. You can still see the work, it is located just before 5th on Lincoln in Denver. The purpose of this post is not to talk about the art, but to reflect and pay homage to those that have left us so young. I believe that painting portraits of those that have passed is a way of continuing to breath new life into their soul, and to help the families of the deceased. The sketch is of a close friends brother who recently passed, I will painting a portrait of this young man and hope to convey the same energy through this piece as I have in prior ones. All of the portraits here are created with spraypaint. Thanks for viewing and please share.

War Paint 2nd Steps

For the second stage of the War Paint mural, I have been steadily and meticulously mapping, masking and painting in the very large sections of the Union Jack.  I did not use a level, or a laser liner, all done by eye and classic mural methods, such as the very rough rope line you can see. It may not look like much, but running straight lines over 60 feet of textured brick is not the easiest task, running diagonal lines over them can be a nightmarish task, not to mention the wall is west facing and gets a great deal of sun.With all these factors in play, it is going well and the figures will be getting some layers soon. Some of the shots are at night as I have been working in the cool evening air, and shorter sessions during the daylight hours. Overall I have worked this entirely on my own, with some initial help from the one and only Stereo Abstract, and some help from my good friend Ever, thanks fellas. Look for more from GB's Colfax soon. 

Blown Covers Taxes Submissions

was this past week, tax time and the thought of that date was inspiring to create images for, not sure why, but maybe others felt the same. I suppose around tax time I always feel buried in paperwork so I played off a few ideas in that direction, and had some fun with the remainder of the sketches. The first two were featured on the Blown Covers blog, thanks Francoise! The winner this week was absolutely a bar raising, or bar smashing effort, congrats to you Chee Yang Ong, great concept and execution on limited time. The challenges are getting ever more difficult, and the submissions stronger and stronger, I love a healthy competition with feedback. Look through all the links below and check back for more weekly submissions to Blown Covers. 

Taxes: The Winner "Even Robin Hood"

Runners-Up

50 Images better than a tax refund

This Weeks Theme: Spring

War Paint 1st Steps

Here are progress shots and studio shots of the initial steps I took to get the placement, heighth, and sizing as correct as possible for the mural. I also took some cheater steps, I say this because I have yet to do this on a large scale mural, and that is to utilize a stencil. I took this step because given that these figures are about 2:1 lifesize, they are large enough that they are nearly full body, and to sketch and edge utilizing spraypaint would have wasted time and paint. So I took an alternative option, I projected the full figures onto matt board, and cut massive stencils, only for the silhouette and sizing to be perfect for the next steps. I am anxious to jump in on the figures, but will be working the Union Jack and larger areas before I work the small details. Look for more progress soon, thanks for viewing. 

WIP

Work in progress, graphite on vellum. Thanks for viewing. 

War Paint Mural Underway

A quick post as I was enjoying the sun today prepping and priming the wall for the War Paint GBS mural, and I am pretty tired. Here is a digital mockup to scale, making sure all my measurements and basic placement is still where I would like it to be. Block-in and hopefully some painting from E.Colfax over the next few days. Thanks for dropping by. 

Blown Covers Easter Submissions

This past week's submissions for Blown Covers was the theme of Easter, and with so much to chew on, you can see the thumbnail sketches I created above. The first color study was not submitted, but was done after as I felt it was one of the more effective concepts. Of the remaining concepts a few were posted on Blown Covers, and you can see this weeks winner and runner-ups at the links below. No matter the outcome of any of these contests, it is simply fun and engaging to think about these topics and work through a series of visual solutions. Thanks to Francoise Mouly and everyone at Blown Covers, and congrats to the winners and runner-ups. Thanks for viewing. 

Easter: The Winner

Runner-Ups

Full Easter Basket