Carlsbad Art and Culture

The producer of Ultimate Surprises had known of my projects around the West Hollywood area and offered the to opportunity to paint a mural for a yahoo webisode. I excitedly committed to the project and set off for West Hollywood within the week.

The guidelines for the mural were minimal. I was asked to paint 2 young ladies as doodle characters with the only theme being something related to eye vision. I doodled a few options, but ended up using a design I sketched the morning of the project. Alex, the young lady being surprised with a slew of gifts including a vision package, was painted holding a bucket in one hand and a dripping paint brush in the other. Fake glasses were painted on her face to indicate her desire to see clearly again. Her friend Adriana and the one who contacted the show’s producers painted the words “Surprise Alex”.

I began painting around 7am while a crew of 10+ buzzed around me with cameras and sound equipment. GoPro cameras were hung from trees and any visible logos were blocked out with tape on all my cans and my shirt. Ironically the colors chosen for the girl’s shirts and the shirts they actually wore were not coordinated in advance.

I finished the last letters of the mural as the girls arrived. Alex had no idea what was happening until she got close enough to the mural to read her name. The gate which the mural was painted on was pulled up by Ryan from Positive Eye Ons and Alex entered to have her eyes checked.

Initially I thought my role was going to be limited to painting a mural with some video of the process spliced into the show, but I soon found out that my role had grown. Not only did I meet and introduce the project to the girls, but I was asked to return later where additional footage would be shot to conclude the webisode.

I arrived at the Ground Floor Gallery in downtown Los Angeles 2 weeks later to again meet the girls and surprise Alex with a painted canvas of the mural design. A good collection of my work was already hung on the walls from a previous show so the background for the shoot was perfect. In addition to the painting, Alex and Adriana were given scholarships to begin training in a field of their choice.

The entire project could not have gone any smoother. The producers were amazing and kept me up-to-date on any schedule changes. The locations they chose for both the mural and the secondary gallery shoot were ideal and Alex and Adriana not only were very deserving of their gifts, but were both very much surprised.

Thanks again Ultimate Surprises for involving me in your project!

Click HERE to learn more about the episode!