Sunday, November 25, 2012

Haunted House Section: Ground Work Laid!

Here are two photos of the Haunted House float which will be one of a multi-section float making its debut on the parade route this year.  My work is only a small part of this project, which will also have signage and low-relief sculptures added, and will also be drenched in a variety of flashing lights.




Sunday, November 11, 2012

Congo-Themed Float

Painting a float is very different than painting a mural. To stay on schedule, you sometimes have to paint two sides of a roughly 15'x50' float with front and back. Naturally, this requires you to economize on how the image is presented to the parade-goers who may only get to enjoy its beauty as it passes at a 5 mph clip, generally with a crowd of people in front of you, or while standing a few feet from it.It can be hard to find the happy medium between doing your best work in extreme weather conditions in a short period time. Still, I am generally happy with my work.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Easter Island

Here is another float design after my wanderlust- Easter Island. I really enjoyed painting this one. Now I'm onto Maldives, the Canary Islands, then Tahiti! I'd love to spend a week on each as I do painting their float-likeness...

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Bacchus : Galapagos Floats

I returned to painting floats in November of 2011. Originally, I was approached to paint the specialty floats for Bacchus that all the other float painters were too busy to work on, and I found myself really enjoying seeing familiar faces from Kern everyday along with enjoying the work. Free-lancing can sometimes leave you feeling like a pinball, getting knocked from one place in the city to another, sometimes on multiple projects at once. The prospect of steady work again seemed a nice change of pace. So, I am presently painting a large portion of the theme floats for Bacchus' 2013 Mardi Gras parade. It is impossible to get a full shot of the float, but here are a few details from a couple of them. I will add photos to this collection in the near future.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Tea Room Gate Mural

Back in late December, when the weather was a bit nippy, the Audubon Zoo's Tea Room asked if I could complete this mural before the end of the fiscal year. I spent four or five days shivering on the seat of my rolling tool box in order to complete this on time. Afterward, I used an automotive clear-coat to seal it. I think it is one of the prettiest things I've ever done along with the Nature Center mural which washed away in Katrina. I really ought to paint more of nature on my own!

Sunday, June 24, 2012

"Boylesk" Show Banners

These two banners were used to flank the stage at the House of Blues during "Boylesk", or the male burlesque show produced by Rick Delaup. He requested that I paint the tug-of-war players in their "garters" without any underwear on. My original plan was to paint one in boxers and the other in briefs. I seemed to scandalize even him with my anatomical correctness, but we fortunately draped the frontal male nudity with the tip of the boa. The female MC for the show did use the tip of her cane to flash the audience at one point! Originally, I thought we would use red boas, but the neon pink was the perfect touch to really intensify my color choices! Hanging in Home Studio Rolled out on then the floor at House of Blues pre-hanging!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

"Animal Grossology" Exhibit Entrance

I am quite behind schedule with uploading images to my blog, so I am going to try and update a lot this summer. Here are some photos of my work on the Aquarium's temporary "Animal Grossology" exhibit. Everything was cut out of either 1/4" masonite or 3/4" plywood, then painted and installed by me on site! The artwork and exhibit concept is based on a science-minded children's book.