Starting? What does that even mean? Technically, I started over a year ago and changed my mind about 20 times, then I just dropped the idea. But my latest doodles and designs have got me thinking about it more.
I’m planning on taking on the inside of my back gate. It’s wood and has raised cross braces so it will be a challenge.
Power Wash
Green and black algae all over this thing. I haven’t cleaned my back yard area in about a year. But I got a new Power Washer and it’s time to clean it up.
AH! much better.
I’ve been working out an idea for it. I think I want something simple just to test my ability to do a mural. Around 1988 was my last mural/graffiti thing. I know the other side of the fence makes more sense, it’s flat and people can see it after all. But this one is more of a test. I’ve designed two ideas so far for back here. One is a pretty simple doodle type thing. The other is inspired by my kids, it’s a couple of frogs eating misquitoes. I think simple will win this time but I’m going to keep sketching. I’ll sit a few more nights with Procreate on my iPad and see what comes up.
The Process
I don’t really know. I guess I’ll be spending some time on YouTube.
In the old days, I had a can of house paint and a roller and I would throw paint on the wall then roll it out. Later I would come back with my stencils and spray cans. We didnt have hi-end paint cans, it was what ever they had at Ace Hardware. No fancy nozzles or paint markers, you would get the big markers they used to write on containers or construction equipment.
In my last post, I wrote about preparation and I’m trying to take that to heart. Which means prepping the wood. I guess I’m going to have to paint the fence gate to seal the wood. Painting it help the wood to accept real paint. I do like the look of old wood. But once I paint it, there is no going back. And that means mentally, I cant just give up and tuck it away in a drawer, once it’s coated, I need to keep going.
Spray Paint.
It’s been about 35 years since I was that spray can artist. I know from watching YouTubes of some of my favorite artist that I dont “have to” use spray cans, but I also know that the speed and efficiency of a spray can for shapes cant be beat. So, once a design is settled, I’m going to have to buy some paints, time to make a run to Blick’s. Blick’s also sells something called Mural paint, I’ll have to check that out. For detail work, Posca Paint Markers. Again, once I decide on the finished art, I may need to buy a few more Posca.
Getting it up!
Yup, I said it. How is it going to get from my iPad to the fence?
This afternoon I tried something else that I had high-hopes for, the new Mural app! It’s such a cool idea. You have your camera on a tripod facing the wall you want to use, then broadcast the video to your iPad. You then import your art work to the screen, then adjust the position. You can walk up to the wall and the camera will see you, your hand and the image, then you just trace! Well, I downloaded the demo and took my black marker and gave it a try. It did not go very well. The lag time between my hand and the surface was too much and the detail was a little too low. In reality, I can see how to make this work, using it just to plot out points and get spacing correct. I’m not saying it’s not usable, I was just hoping for it to be the “ultimate cool tool.” It’s pretty cool, but …
Well, I do have a cheap projector so, I’m hoping I can use it to project from the iPad to the fence. I’ve used it in the past for larger paintings, his time I’ll be careful to line things up. In the past I’ve worked in cramped quarters and ended up with things a bit askew. The downside is that I cannot use the projector in the daytime, it just is not that powerful. And the idea of doing all the sketching at night then having to wait till the next day to get started, leaves time for me to procrastinate.
Well, time to get sketching.