Motorcycle Mural in Progress

I began work on the mural this morning. The wall is a very rough texture and I quickly found out that lines drawn in pencil got lost in the shadows of the stucco. Luckily I brought my drawing box and found some red conti crayn to lay out the drawing. Even then it was difficult to see so I decided to paint the whole motorcycle in black and then go back and add color.
    The man in the photo is the homeowner, Bob. I had mentioned in my previous blog that I thought he didn't ride motorcycles anymore. I was wrong. When I arrived this morning his garage door was open and inside was a red Harley Sportster. I asked him when was the last time he rode it, and he said last week!
    I should be able to finish up tomorrow. I will add color and a shadow so it doesn't look like it's floating.

     My friend Chris called the local newspaper today and asked if they were interested in doing a story on the mural. They asked me to send a press release, and indicated they would be sending a reporter. So I may be interviewed tomorrow.
   The temperature today was around 80, sunny, with a brisk wind. My paint was drying before I could get it on the wall, and even though the sun was to my back and I was wearing a wide brimmed hat, my face is a little sunburned. It must be the light reflecting off the wall. This has been a good exercise before starting the Punta Gorda murals. I'm getting a taste of the challenges I'll face painting larger murals in harsher  circumstances.

Motorcycle Mural

While waiting to get started on the Punta Gorda mural project my brother Tom told me a friend called him  to ask me about painting a mural on his house. Bob is a great fan of Tom's music. I had met him at a bar Tom was playing at, and I met him again at his home when he hired Tom and the band to play at a party at his house.

   Bob is an older man who has lived alone since his wife died. He has a great love of motorcycles. I don't think he rides anymore, but he has three old motorcycles displayed in his home like sculptures. But unlike sculptures they are working motorcycles as he pointed out to me when he started one up in his family room.
   Bob opened a book of Harley motorcycles and said he would like this motorcycle painted on the back wall of his house. I said,"Sure I can do that." and a deal was struck with a hand shake.
  I took the book home to make some sketches. Leafing through the book I saw many classic and customized motorcycles that seemed a more worthy choice to be painted on his wall.  But this one perhaps has some significance to him. He wants to put a fresh coat of paint on the wall before I start painting, so it won't be until next week that I can get started.