Sportsman's Paradise: White-Tailed Deer Float

The first pic is kind of fun because you get to see what us float-painters have to deal with all too often.... cracking float cloth!  Imagine trying to paint any straight line on this broken surface.   This is why float-painters opt for brushes with long, soft bristles, ideally synthetic.  They hold up to our abuse fairly well yet also handle the lumps and bumps like a champ.  They replace the cloth in small panels on an "as needed" basis. Honestly, new cloth has its own obstacles.  They don't sand it after priming so it sucks in the paint while having the texture of sand-paper.

These deer are out frolicking in the sunset, and the light captures their fur in backlit warm tones for the most part.  I kept the trees in the background simple so as not to compete with the deer.  The photos have a warped look because it is only about 6-5' from the neighboring float.  We get to paint something that will be seen mostly from 10' to 500' away while only being able to view it ourselves at this narrow distance.  If I wait to take photos on the street or lined up in the Convention Center, it will have gold-leaf decoration and possibly paper flowers that will likely cover up the ability to truly appreciate  the work.

No Two Sides Ever Look Alike!

The funny thing about float-painting is that no matter how hard you may try, no two sides of a float will ever look the same.  Okay- I suppose you could get them to look alike, but no one will ever compare them against each other as it rolls down the parade route.  These two owls almost look like they could be different species.  I did not notice while I painted these, but laughed when I saw these photos, because neither has a single tail feather hanging down past the branch he sits on.  Well- those beads hooks attached below will be so laden with bling during the parade that I'm afraid it hardly matters! 

Sportsman's Paradise: Wild Turkeys

This year, one of the Mardi Gras krewes has chosen the theme of Sportsman's Paradise.  I just painted these birds for the Wild Turkey float.

Geaux Fish Exhibit: First mural section

This Spring, I painted several murals for the new Geaux Fish exhibit at the Aquarium.  Here is the first section of several I painted for that area.  This represents the open water of Lake Pontchartrain slowly turning into Lake Maurepas on its northen side.  From the corner on, the trees grow more dense.  The challenge they presented me was to paint it from a persepective where you could see all the top of every tree- not have them cropped out as they might be in a photograph.   There middle section of the shorter wall has brackets where a game monitor is now placed.

Bait Shop Ice Chest Display

Ain't this exciting to look at?  This is actually faux ice and water, cast in the form of a try with a sunken monitor screen in the center.  I made the new tray as a refurbishment to an exhibit display in the Audubon Insecatrium's Beaudreaux's Bait Shop area.  I made it using faux plexi-glass cubes and a clear two-part epoxy.  It was a challenge, because the ice chest it drops into is an old one from the 1950's with a lot of dents in it, so I had to customize the shape after casting.

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.

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.