the robot mural made the news!

I'm a little late in sharing this ...

but here it is! The robot mural made the evening local news last Thursday! Woo-hoo! :) And here's the fabulous time-lapse video that Pete Brown made, in case you want to see it again ...

Unveiled!

Officially unveiled!

people who were integral in making the mural happen.  thank you.

front north wall.  that little fella flyin around with the jet pack is my astrObOt tribute to neil armstrong who has made a few appearances around armstrong hall of engineering at purdue.  there's a QR code on the top television that leads you to the 'making of' video.

front south wall.  initially this wall was a mess.  but now i think it may be my favorite.

back north wall.  the gold robot in the construction helmet is troweling in the concrete as a tribute to the folks that build this badass canvas.  the QR code is on the end of the board that the green robot holds.

back south wall.  i'm so glad i got good enough weather to be able to paint in the pipes.  they are such a fun part of these walls.

Check out this time-lapse video that Pete made!

TGIF

Remember how I mentioned Zach and Pete were being interviewed about the mural?

Here's the article in the Journal & Courier (TGIF section)!

mugshot

Zach and Pete were interviewed by Lauren Sedam of the Journal and Courier today! 

west lafayette mural: the little details ...

beautiful weather brought mindy and i back out to the wall to fill in more background details.  these things seem a bit pointless, but in the end, the ignorable details are what tie everything together.  i finished out the rest of the front north wall with some astrObOts (my tribute to neil armstrong) and more pipes and gears.  it is looking pretty filled up at this point and i think this wall is finished.  just needs the ugly scribbles on the tv fixed.

i got started on the details on the front south wall today also.  i placed two pulley stencils near the top of the wall.  then ran a length of chain stencil to different robots pulling on it.  i also touched up some of the shading that i hadn't filled in yet.  and added a couple versions of the little robot i used in walton to help ground the wall-e and R2-D2 in the corner.  

perhaps another day or two and i'll have everything finished out.

spot the difference

We took some time out of our busy schedules yesterday to sneak a little more details into the front north pylon. Here are some visual clues to what we added ...

Now can you spot the differences between yesterday's photo ...

and this photo from a week ago?

west lafayette mural: day 8

Yesterday, Zach, Pete, and I made full use of the warm sun and worked hard to finish the front south pylon. There are still some details to touch up and some background pieces to be added in, but for now, this wall is more or less done. From here on, it will totally be up to the weather to determine how soon we can be back at work.

In terms of time, this mural takes the prize for being the longest and most challenging project thus far. It may look like we accomplished a lot in just 8 painting sessions but in fact, a lot of time had already gone into meetings, shopping for paint and supplies, stencil cutting, and sketching prior to priming and the actual painting. It's hard working on such a large scale, but at the same time, it's also been super satisfying to see it all coming together, slowly, but surely. If you'd like to revisit the humble beginnings of this gigantic mural, we've archived all related posts in the picture box labeled "West Lafayette Mural" on the right side of the blog. Just click it and you'll be transported back in time! ;)

west lafayette mural: day 7

day 7 of painting started a bit late because we opened the 'beyond the wall' show at artists' own this morning.  our recently re-elected state representative, Sheila Klinker, was on hand to read the book to the children, and the artists were on hand to sign copies.  i was there to help with the interactive portion of the show, getting kids to draw on the wall and make the monsters.  the 'storybook project' has been disappointing.  no one has participated.  i only have the 3 samples i gave out for free.  i guess people don't understand why i would have them pay to participate in something they cannot keep.

we started on the wall a little before 1pm and painted until a bit before 5.  today went slow as we had several people stop by to chat and take pictures.  we still made a lot of progress on the front north wall, though.  most of the robots are complete.  i mostly just have the big white one to finish.  pete is doing much of the patina work, while i'm re-drawing and adding the stenciled elements and details.  it's making the work go a lot faster to have his help.

we still have the south front wall to finish up.  thankfully, most of it is freehand, as many of the stencils are getting destroyed by the paint and the wind and the dirt and just generally being outside and made of paper.  its supposed to be warm tomorrow, but windier than today.  that could be an issue with the spray paint.  we have most of the south wall to complete and then background details, which i'll probably finish later on when we have another decent day.  but if it is nice tomorrow we'll get the rest of the robots finished up.

west lafayette mural: day 6

some pictures from today ...

today worked out with great weather; clear skies and some warm sunshine.

the front north wall.  pete ended up having the day free and started in on the patina on the front walls and filled in most of the rest of his stencils.

the back south wall.  nearly completed.  we just need something in that shadow box and some background details.

detail.  motor and diamond plate.

current state of the back north wall.  still needs a bit of attention in some details and few stencils and highlights.

detail.  

wall-e by pete brown.

eve by pete brown.

r2d2 by pete brown.  

c3po by pete brown.

robot with a cup of coffee, or oil, or whatever robots drink.

the pipes will continue into the background.  

west lafayette mural: day 5

what the hell happened to the sun?  today was supposed to be bright and sunny, warm and wonderful, so of course we'd be painting out at the wall.  the fog was heavy this morning, but promised to burn off later in the day, but the sun never came out and the fog just turned into that kind of bronchitis-causing-cold humidity.  i loaded up a couple of boxes of paint and headed out.

pete met me at 11 and we started in finishing up all of the base colors.  then we got to start in on the fun part: the details.  we added the patina to the surfaces using layers of spray paint, rust for the grey and white robots, copper for the green.  then i started shading and adding in stencils of gears and motors and doing all the interior detail work.  while i was doing that, pete was reapplying many of the smaller stencils on the front walls.  in all, we completed 4 big robots and started 5 or 6 others and finished up several of the smaller stencil elements.  the images really start to come off the wall with the details added in, and things are beginning to come together.

pete is in indy tomorrow, and the weather is supposed to be good, so i'll be on my own out there, unless i can talk mindy into joining me.  with 3 good weather days in the forecast i'm hoping to get this piece finished up.  things are looking promising and we are hopeful.

west lafayette mural: day 4

today we finally had nice weather.  well, nice-er weather, anyway.  the wind from sandy is finally gone.  the air is still cold.  but bearable.  so it was back to the wall.  i met pete at 11 and we quickly started in completing more of the base color layers.  the front pylons are now nearly covered in color and ready for their details and finishing work.

we will be creating a worn-looking 'patina' on the base metal colors.  the steel and white enamel will rust.  the bronze will oxidize to a jade color. and the copper-green will reveal portions of unoxidized copper finish.  we will also be adding stenciled details of gears, motors, chains, pulleys, and all kinds of other industrial and mechanical elements.

we really got a lot of the slug-through-it-and-get-it-done work finished today.  i got up on the ladder and did the sketchy parts with the bucket and a brush, which is a bit scary at 18 feet in the air and reaching for 20 feet.  pete finished up most of the other robots from the 8 foot ladder and then started raking the background color into that ridiculous texture.  *digression start*: 2 of the pylons we are painting are smooth, have been primed previously (a looooonnng time ago previously), and the paint goes on like butter in a pan.  stencils spray crystal clear lines and edges.  it's a wonderful surface.  the other 2 pylons, however, are covered in this texture that is like a mixture of concrete and pearlite and it is a bitch the paint.  it takes 3 times as much paint to cover it, because it is 3 times the surface area with that texture and the stencils can't sit flat to the surface, so smaller details tend to blur:*digression end*  but we got it done and now it's ready for spray paint.

next week is looking promising to put in some time and try to get it finished up.  but there's still a lot left to complete.  however the base is there and you can start to see the overall look popping out.

change of plans

We were supposed to go work on the mural again this morning and then head out to Walton, IN for the unveiling of Building Blocks later this afternoon. But Sandy is causing some pretty gusty winds of up to 50mph, and I'd be damned if I allowed Zach to get on that rickety 16ft ladder. The unveiling is also now being postponed till November 13th. We'll make a reminder post when the time comes.

So instead of being out and about today, we're huddling in at home. I'll write, and he'll draw, we'll make some dinner and watch a movie.

west lafayette mural: day 3

it was a long day at the wall today.  mindy and i started early in the cold morning, worked through the afternoon, and got back home just in time to watch robbie gould nail the game winning field goal for a Bears win.  we were so exhausted when we got back that we just flopped on the couch for the following 4 hours.  just the noise of the traffic on the bridge above and road below is enough to wear you out.

before

after

we got a lot of the front walls completed today.  first i fixed what i messed up the day before, then finished drawing in all the robots on the south wall.  mindy was cleaning up some of the sloppy places from the previous days.  then we started painting in the robots on the front walls.  pete and his son arrived after church let out and they started in immediately knocking out a big portion of the color on the south wall.  we also had a great family of volunteers show up to paint today and because we had 8 brushes on the wall, we got a lot accomplished.  i'm looking forward to finishing it out soon.  weather permitting, we'll be out there most of the rest of the week.

it's exciting to watch this mural take shape.  this is such a big space, not just for the size of the walls, but also for the acreage they take up.  the mural is such a visual surprise on the drive north or south on SR43.  the honks have been increasing each day we're out there as people drive by.

west lafayette mural: day 2

i was determined to paint today, and thankfully, so was the weather.  after a steady rain through most the night, the AM radar showed a line of storms 100 miles east of us and nothing behind it but sketchy-looking grey clouds.  we picked up paint cans from the studio, headed out to the wall, and quickly got started painting in outlines on the front pylons.  i got a couple of large robots on the walls before pete arrived with 2 of his kids.  we got them started painting in the robots on the back walls with mindy helping them layout the colors properly, then got back to working in some more images on the front pylons.

pete added his icon robot stencils to the mix and i continued with the large and small free-hand/stencil pieces.  by the end of the day we had outlines completed on the north wall and started on the south wall, until i began to lose focus and screwed up the legs on a huge centerpiece figure.  but that's ok, i'll paint over it on sunday.  there is a lot going on with these walls and there is still a lot missing, but we are headed in the right direction.