That'll Need Two Coats!!

Before I get lost in another day, I promised myself that I was going to update this blog...today! Seems like I can only sit down and get this done about once a month!

The last time I posted was shortly after I moved into my new house.....

In my last post I talked a bit about some of the renovations that I had done on my house and promised to show a few projects. I think I will start with the office which was a kids bedroom in it's last life.

Before I get started with that, I want to explain my absence from the my Blog. On September 12, 2009, my only daughter Jacque got married up in Northwest Wisconsin. I was asked by Jacque if I could help her design and make all the invites, programs and put together a slide show for her and her new husband. She also did "Save The Date" magnets but those were ordered online off-the-shelf and didn't require any additional work on my part.

We finished all the invites a while back so that left me with 150 programs to get finished before the big day. I basically set-up a print shop in my office and expanded it to the kitchen table. I designed (with the guidance of my daughter of course), printed on custom paper, then assembled all of the programs. Not sure how much I saved by doing this but they turned out really well...








I can't let this post go without showing a few pictures from my daughter's wedding. It was a lovely warm day in mid September and the whole day went really well. I'm so proud of her and am happy to welcome my new son-in-law into the family....











OK, now back to the main reason for this post. I wanted to show one of the rooms that I updated just before moving into my new house. I have a full-time job but I have always done some freelance work on the side. I also travel around the country painting murals with a group called the Letterheads, so I need an office space to work in.

My new house had a small back bedroom that would serve the purpose but it needed to be updated! I do enjoy staying in touch with my inner-child but this was just too much!










Hideous right! So I stocked up on stain blocking primer because most of the rooms looked like they would need two coats of primer....which they did! I tried to pick out a pallet of colors for the rooms that looked more appropriate to the period that the home was built in. That being about 1960. I also tried to use colors which a greater percentage of people actually like.

I ended up painting my new office space a color called "Slender Reed". BTW, who names these colors and where can I get a job like that? The color is very rich and tranquil at the same time. And they all look like something that might have been originally used in the house when it was built. The closets were never really updated so I painted the closet walls the same color, trimmed it all in white, and re-painted the ceilings in white also. I also choose these lighter shades of color because under that goofy carpet there is solid oak flooring....another future project!




As soon as I get some shelves from IKEA and hang up all my "Wall of Fame" photos, I'll post a before and after series on this update.

Next up I am looking at setting up a space to do some oil paintings in. The only space really big enough and available is in my basement. Out of a need to get a painting done for Christmas, I temporarily set something up down there and started painting once again. Perhaps next time I can explore some of the ideas I have for that space and the challenges they present.....take care for now.

Saying Goodbye....

Geez, it's been over a month since I had time to sit down and add a new post here. Lately I have felt like I jumped on a carnival ride that on second thought wasn't such a good idea.....let me try and explain

My last post was just before the big Walldog event in Pontiac, Il. Not to take away anything from any other past event but Pontiac was an incredible meet. The locals were great. The host family (the Diaz Gang) are the best folks....Ever. We had many great food options every day. Music and festivities in the evening. The temps were as high as the spirited Letterhead painting crew. We really painted up the town on this one. It was a great event all around.

A thousand little things have happened over the past month and a few rather huge ones also. Shortly before the Walldog event, my Father had major surgery and only had a 50/50 chance of survival. He did make it through the surgery and was put into an induced coma during the week of the Walldog event. It was suggested by many friends that I continue on with the meet (as planned for over a year) and spend time with my Letterhead friends who are like family to me! It was very good medicine to be in the company of such wonderful caring and fun people. It really helped me out and my Father was not able to receive visitors until the following week, so off I went.

After the event, I returned to my home town up North (300 miles from where I live now) for the 4th of July weekend hoping that my Father's health had made a turn for the better. Unfortunately the opposite was true. His condition had deteriorated rapidly when I visited him on the 3rd of July. He was not doing well at all. The morning of the 4th of July, my daughter called me and said I should come say my goodbyes because they were not sure how much longer he could hang on. So I spent 25 hours by his bedside at the hospital saying goodbye, and yet he hung on.

On my return trip to Milwaukee on the evening of the 5th of July I received the call saying my Dad had passed away just after 9pm. We had his memorial service on Thursday the 9th of July with military honors, and many friends and extended family members showed up to say goodbye.

Now I had been planning on closing on my house on July 10th for six weeks or so. So instead of canceling until who knows when, I drove the 300 miles back to MIlwaukee and managed to make the meeting in the late afternoon. I'm sure my dad would not have wanted me to make a big deal out of it, that's just the way he was.

I closed on the house on July 10th and finally moved in on the 25th of July. I do have several renovation stories related to the move in but first i wanted to finish this post with a story about my Dad and mural painting.....

Back in the Summer of 2000, I painted my first real solo mural for some good friends of mine on their barn in Northern Wisconsin. The barn happened to be close to my home town and my Dad was in the area and drove out many days to see how I was progressing. Each day he would usually pull up a chair and sit and watch for a while. The mural was only 28' to the top but he made many comments about the height we were working at. Things like...."back in the navy (WWII) I could hang off the side of a ship but you couldn't get me up there now".

Well, for some reason my Dad really thought that mural was something special. Near the end of the project he told me..."Nice work Son, I'm proud of you". Heck, I was just doing what I love to do. Slinging paint in the hot summer sun, high up in the air!







When one of my dear Letterhead friends suggested I go on down to the Pontiac mural event, have some fun and dedicate the mural to my Dad, that's just what I did. I found a way to put his name on the mural that would not take away from the historic nature of the original theme. Growing up, I heard my Dad tell many stories about the Model T and Model A that he had. So, while I was painting the Model T car on the mural it came to me that I could put my Dad's initials and birth year on the license plate.





That's all for now. I shall return with my adventures in home renovation sometime soon I hope. It's all those little things that catch you off guard right?

Goodbye Dad.....My Heart Goes With you!

Chief City Runs with the Dogs

On June 24th I will be driving down to Pontiac, IL to take part in the "Chief City Runs With the Dogs" mural painting event. I am one of 16 project leaders heading up one of 16 or 17 murals being painted over a four day period. There are 150 artist registered for this event from as far away as Germany. The city has put a lot of effort into planning and organizing this event and turning it into a city wide celebration! You can find more info at this site.....

Chief City Website

In preparation for this event the project leaders are provided an information packet and asked to submit a mural concept for review and approval. I posted an earlier blog regarding the concept rendering process that I used for this project. I have finished the hand rendering of the maquette and will be framing and donating it for an auction taking place at the event on Saturday evening.

Currently, I am in the process of printing out all the reference art sheets that will be used during the painting of this mural project. I have no idea who will be helping me paint the mural over the course of the four days but I know it will be completed at the end of the event. Basically the artists attending the event just walk up and ask, "can I help". So, when someone walks up to volunteer, I need to have reference sheets to hand them to get started. I am printing both transparencies that will be used to project and layout the mural, as well as color images of the art. The color copies of the art will also be used as a reference for paint color mixing/matching.





Here is a "simplified" version of the transparencies that will be used to project the image onto the 8' x 12' aluminum panels....removing most of the color and getting it down to basic outlines works best for projecting.





I also cropped and enlarged detailed areas of the art in Adobe Photoshop and printed them out on good quality photo paper to make painting a bit easier when the time comes.





I'm never sure if there will be printers available at the event to produce additional reference materials, so I try to print all the copies I think I will need before hand.

When it comes to overhead projectors, I have used many different machines from various manufacturers. The one I have chosen and hold in high regard is the Apollo Ventura Portable Overhead Projector. Hands down the best projector for this type of work! It's lightweight, portable , and best of all produces an excellent image with very little distortion.





Another thing I have found pretty handy for this type of work is a projector stand. There are quite a few available from different manufacturers but I am in the process of building my own. Back in 2006 I helped Kurt Gaber of Gaber Signs with his second running of the "Brush Bash" Mural painting event in Chippewa Falls, WI. In preparation for that event, Kurt asked a local welding shop to build a projector stand to be used over the course of the event. After the event was over, Kurt kindly gave me the stand to take home to use on future projects. Below is the unit that was built in Chippewa.




Although this unit has served me quite well, I am redesigning a new lighter weight version. The original stand was constructed of steel tubing, while very sturdy, it is fairly heavy. On occasion it is required that we project images on two-story roofs which requires carrying or lifting the sections of this stand up ladders or scaffolding. I have purchased aluminum tubing for most of the new parts and also bent the projector platform out of stainless steel. I think over time you will notice my love of all things stainless steel! I will post some pictures of the stand as it comes along. But first I have to learn how to weld aluminum! Or as they say across the pond Al-U-minEum!

HGTV Junkie

It's official....I have become an HGTV Junkie! For the past several years I've been renting and probably haven't watched more than an hour of HGTV in all those years. Now that I am purchasing a house, I can't stop watching that crazy channel. I mean I flip it on and think..."Oh, I can use this info somewhere"...for sure! After several hours I start feeling really guilty for putting off all the stuff I'm really supposed to be doing!

Tonight I watched an episode of Curb Appeal, I think it was anyway? After several hours they all blend together. Anyway, they were renovating a Tudor style home and playing around with different colors on the exterior walls and trim. It started me thinking that I would like to try that on my house. Seeing as I haven't even closed yet and I can't go down there and start slopping paint on someone else's house, I needed a plan B. I started thinking...."I do have a photo of the house and PhotoShop! So I quickly applied some color to the white aluminum siding to see what it looks like.

Presently it looks like this....





And with the aluminum siding painted similar to the brick, the windows and door seem to pop a bit more?





And around the back.........









Now, you see the neighbors fence behind the house in the picture above. It is really old and needs to be updated. I spoke with my brother tonight and we talked about trying to salvage some barn boards off the structure pictured below. It's been a while since I shot these pictures so I'm not sure if it's still in this shape?








I would sure like to put some of this material to use if at all possible! Why cut down more trees if there is perfectly good wood just sitting around? I guess I will see in a couple weeks when I head back up there. Until then it's off to learn more stuff! HG here I come!

Keeping it Simple!

One thing I am going to need in a studio space is a utility sink. In the home I am buying there is an existing galvanized double tub utility sink in the basement. It looks to be the original equipment installed in the house back around 1960. The faucet also looks to be original as the hot water handle was frozen shut when I did the walk-through. The seller said they would make sure that it is working before the closing but it's going bye bye anyway. The area in the basement that will be used for the laundry, including the utility sink are definitely in need of a re-do! So all of it will have to go or be changed, but to what is the question?

Most people would probably just spin over to depot or lowes and pick up a new plastic utility sink. There are really only two choices in that category. One is the old standard single tub unit....about $30-$70 depending on the quality?






Or you can go all out and grab the double tub for around $110.





Or if you want to really drain the wallet, you can go with Stainless Steel! There is the single bowl stainless utility sink. But then I would need to buy or build a vanity or cabinet of some sort? Since most of these vanity type things are built of wood and basements are generally damp....I think I will avoid the wood option for now. And even these sinks are not very cheap.




If I wanted to go all out with the stainless option I could pick one of these little units up for about $800 - $1000?




Not so much, Next option. I also saw a wall mount sink set into a wood base. This option is nice looking but also very expensive, $900. Plus you have the wood thing going on again!



So on to plan D! I thought I would just build my own. I am thinking of using one of the counter top glass reinforced single tub sinks like this one....




But instead of dealing with any wood substrates, that can take moisture on, I plan on building a stainless steel base unit. I did a little ideation sketch to figure out how this thing will go together. Then I went ahead and did a 3D rendering using Google's SketchUp.




The proportions are off a little bit on this but hey it's my first real sketch using this program....





The sink itself runs about $70. The legs are about $30 each or $120 per set. Since I have access to some pretty cool tools, I can just bend up the upper portion. Using the smaller sink will free up more space for the washer and dryer and possibly a stainless steel folding table!

Ah, the mind of an Industrial Designer - everything can be made better, you just have to figure out how?

Finding What We Need

The reason for starting this blog was to discuss how I might build a studio space to work in. The problem is that I paint murals, so the "studio" would have to be quite large right? Well that depends! Much of the work on murals is done in advance of actually painting on walls. In most cases, most of the preliminary work can be accomplished in a home office on a computer and drawing table.

Currently I live in a two bedroom apartment and use the second bedroom as an office/guestroom. I manage to get a little work done here but I don't feel like I can spread out and do more than one thing at a time. I set out one project and the room seems to fill up fast! See what I mean.....





Well, I am in the process of buying my first house so things will be changing by the end of July. About a month or two ago I really started thinking about either looking for a bigger apartment or getting a condo/townhouse. But I haven't had a very positive experience at my current apartment so why do more of that. After all, that is the definition of insanity right? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. So, it's time to move out of Crazy Town!

So I decided that a better option would be to look for a house to buy. As I mentioned above, I have already had my offer accepted and signed all the financing papers and have a closing date set for July 10th. So, let's see how I got to that point and what does this all have to do with a studio?

Initially I was hoping to find a four-car garage with an attached house!!! Since these are not very easy to find I realized that some compromise was quite likely. I did about 25 walk throughs in houses near Milwaukee before I found one worth putting an offer in on. I ended up finding a stone ranch house down on the North Side of the City of Racine (see earlier post). When Mid July rolls around I will (hopefully) have more space to set up a place to work.

The house is a 3 bedroom ranch with a full unfinished basement. I figure I will use one of the main level bedrooms as an office. The room really only needs a wallpaper removal session and a bit of paint to be usable. But I have 2 or 3 large painting easels that I would love to set up and put back to use. This only leaves 2 choices, the garage or the basement? The garage is going to be filled up with my old blue car so that won't work. So this leaves me the unfinished basement.

My big dilemma here is, what to do to make the basement a nice space to work in? If anyone reading this has any ideas, please post some comments or drop me an email. I would like to build and finish a room in the basement that could be used as a small-scale painting studio. Alright then, what flooring option works best over concrete? Tile or laminate? How do I address moisture issues in this space? I have some ideas but since I can't even really get in the place for another month, what to do, what to do? It's hard to put together a plan from 12 miles away.

There is also a 2nd bathroom in the basement that needs a total re-do. It appears that the room is original equipment from around 1960? So, it all needs to come out and be rebuilt. I have some ideas for this room but need to learn some new building techniques and how to work with some new materials. I would love to build a glass block bathroom similar in style to this...




I really like how these glass block rooms look when they are lit up from inside. I also have been having some ideas pop into my head on how to finish the inside of the bathroom? I am leaning towards using either white square tiles or subway tiles on the walls and smaller tiles on the floor and in the shower. I came across a sink/vanity today that I really like and want to buy really bad!!! It's kind of retro and modern at the same time and would work together well with the glass blocks, I think!



Along with this, just a lot of white and chrome and black accents. I really am looking forward to building this room from scratch. I just need to do a lot of research and find out what materials and finishing techniques work best in basements? I will post pics of the project from beginning to end once I get started on it. Looking forward to input and feedback as I go along!

Now... off to learn how to do all this work!

Now What ?

I have spent the past few days trying to finish the hand drawn mural concept for the Chief City Runs with the Dogs event. Well at least trying finish the portion that is from a historic black and white photograph. This is the most important part of the mural so I am trying to make it look as good as possible. In the end I hope this will all transfer up to actual size on the mural. The drawing I am working on is about 18 inches wide and the mural will be painted on an 8' X 12' panel.

Since I have no idea who will actually be helping me once I get to the Pontiac, Il Walldog meet, I have to assume that I will need to paint the whole thing. This of course doesn't ever happen but I have to be prepared to help who ever walks up to help paint on the mural. After rendering all the detail into this drawing using mostly color pencils, I have a pretty fair idea of how I would paint it. Whether I can quickly train someone to jump in there and crank this out on site is yet to be seen.

Here is a detail shot of the drawing. The little man behind the Model A is about 2 inches tall for reference.







All the while I'm trying to draw this thing up I'm thinking about the house inspection that I have scheduled for tomorrow night. I've been watching some HGTV and some of the inspections don't go so well. I believe the little house that I have put an offer in on will have a pretty good showing at inspection. Just judging by all the other houses I toured, this one by far was in the best shape.

I keep thinking that I would really like to finish off the basement of the house I am buying and set up a portion of that for my studio space. Right now the basement of this house is pretty clean and doesn't have crazy stuff built in every corner like most of them. And it is one of a only a few houses that I looked at which doesn't have some cheesy 70's padded vinyl clad bar in the basement!

So I started thinking, if I am going to start renovating a house, I'm going to need more tools....Let's go shopping! There are a few tools that are must haves for any renovation project! Let's see, a good Sawzall is pretty handy, luckily I have one of those already. I will need a good 12" power miter saw and will most likely get a Makita brand when the wallet is a bit thicker than today! But I will need a good cordless hammer drill. So last night I stopped by the local Home Depot and bought this little beast.






I figure since I am from Milwaukee, I better buy that brand of tool. This thing has an all steel chuck and the battery flips around in either direction for clearance. It really heavy duty and best of all..IT WAS ON SALE! I figure I will be doing some hammer drilling into concrete and cement block so this should come in handy!

Now I just have to go and design a glass block bathroom.....I'm off!

Mural Concept - In the Beginning

I have been asked to lead a mural project this June in Pontiac, Il. The event is being called "Chief City Runs with the Dogs" and it is sure to be the big Letterhead event of the Summer! We will actually be painting 16 murals in 4 days. The event is being hosted by the Diaz Family with help from community members and the city of Pontiac, IL.

Although these events are all very different, it is a bit of a tradition to produce a copy of the mural design in one form or another. Sometimes the pieces are auctioned off to raise money for the event or donated to a worthy cause.

Below is the piece I am working on for this event. Today I would like to talk about how I got to this point and why.

A common question I often hear is. "how do you get the little copy of the art transferred to the large version on the wall"? I will cover that in more detail later, for now lets talk more about creating a concept rendering that will eventually be put on the wall.

I mostly wanted to talk today about rendering a piece of work and share how this particular art is being produced. For this project, I decided to go back to my roots and produce a completely hand rendered illustration both for a painting reference and to donate to the auction. You might ask, "why do that with all the technology we have at our disposal these days." Ah, the point of this whole post!

One of my first "real" jobs was at a specialty advertising firm in Northwest Wisconsin back in the B.C. (Before Computers) era. Yes, before the Mac vs. PC debate there was graphite, color pencils, french curves, and paint. At this first job I was usually handed a stack of business names and was asked to come up with some quick ideas that the sales staff could drop by with and hopefully sell. I did all of this logo design and lettering by hand. I then hand inked most of the work and then used the process camera to ready the art for printing.

Over the years I transferred some of the skills I learned back then over to the computer. Many of those skills however have been gathering dust in the recesses of my brain. Once in a while I call them out and put them to use again.

In this case I wanted to develop an original Alphonse Mucha Style border around the whole piece. The subject matter for this concept was from the era old Alphonse would have been laying down his color, so it seemed appropriate. I first drew the border scaled at 1.5 inches equals 1 foot on the mural. I then inked the entire line drawing of the border by hand.

There was a fairly early concept submission deadline so I had to produce a colored version of my art up front for approval. I decided to quickly render that sample using a scanned version of the hand-inked border, then colorize it in Adobe Photoshop. This way any additions or changes could be done and approved before all the time was spent hand rendering the original art. Actually a couple minor changes were made so this worked out well.

I am currently about 2/3 of the way through the rendering of this piece. Once again you might ask "why use the old school, tedious, by-gone methods"? There are a few reasons I can think of. A hand drawn or painted piece of art work is always just a bit more dynamic than a piece created entirely on the computer. Doing it by hand also give me time to think about what I am actually doing and change and evolve things as I go. This process also allows me to become way more intimate with the whole design! So, when we set up to paint this mural and I have several people helping me at any given time, I will know how each element should look.

And finally, I think a hand rendered piece of work has much more meaning and value than something that can be printed out at Kinko's. I hope to have a frame ready for this piece at the event and have everyone that helps sign their name on the original art. Now I just have to go and actually finish it!

Off and Running

I am beginning a Journey. One that I hope will help me find direction and meaning in my life. For years I have been working full-time and doing art, designs, and murals "on the side". I am both an artist and a Designer but I have a real passion for large-scale exterior mural painting. I have painted murals around the United States and Canada so far, and would like to expand my horizons in that area of my life. In order to do that I will need to build a LARGE studio. So, I am calling my blog and business venture, Studio in the Sky. I figure if I am going to build on a dream, I might as well have my head in the clouds!

In order to build my Studio in the Sky, I will first need a place to return to and be able to call home.

For the last few years I have been on the move. In the Fall of 2006, I accepted a new job and relocated to Vermont. After nearly two years of working, living, and touring New England, I decided it was time to return to Wisconsin.

I have now accepted a new position and am living and working in Oak Creek, WI, just South of Milwaukee. After living in an apartment for a good part of the last year, I decided renting was just not working out for me. I need a home base that I can build an Identity and network out of. I found that it is very difficult to build a network and business if I am moving and not really established. So first comes the home.

For the last few weeks, I have been learning how to shop for houses. I think I have seen most of the wrecks in Milwaukee County. I have also been tempted to make an off on a house that was at the outer fringes of my budget. Not willing to stretch the purse strings too much, I started looking at the problem from different angles. Because the taxes were very high in Milwaukee County, and most of the houses in my budget were not worth buying, I turned my search to the South. Taxes and house prices in Racine County were more in line with reality so I went looking there.

Last week I found a nice house on the North side of Racine and put an offer in on it.....Here is what the little place looks like.....So far!

In the coming weeks I will be traveling to Pontiac, Il to add another mural to my portfolio and one of 16 being painted there in 4 days. I will hopefully bring back photos to post here from the event. I will also be trying to close on the house and start my path to building a Studio in the Sky!