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For
a little background I'll begin by telling you that I have a friend.
We'll call her Alex.
We'll call her Alex because that's her name. She has a boyfriend that
we'll call Kelly.
Yes, we're calling him Kelly because that's his name. I don't know
exactly when I met Alex, but I'm guessing it was sometime in 2002.
We were both working at this silly mailorder maternity clothing store.
It was a hateful job. I ended up quitting before Alex, but we've kept
in touch. A few weeks ago during an instant message conversation she
said something about wanting me to paint a wall in her and Kelly's
studio/loft. At least I think she did. She might have asked what it
would take for me to paint a wall in their studio. Regardless of what
the exact words were, the bottom line was that she wanted a wall painted.
Of course, I've heard this before from other people and nothing ever
comes of it. It's no biggie. It's just something that comes with the
territory. But Alex was serious. This was "on the real"
if you know what I mean. |
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 A
few days later I found myself in Los Angeles. I wasn't about to miss
seeing the Camille
Rose Garcia show at the Merry
Karnowsky Gallery and I knew that the show would be coming down
that weekend. I also made a ritualistic visit to Pearl on La Cienega
to buy some supplies. Then some screenprinting equipment at Mc Logan's.
And what would be a better time to meet up with Alex and Kelly. I met
them at the ever trendy Fred 62, where I once had a Vincent
Gallo sighting. They are Gallo fans too, so I knew I was in good
company. After eating our fries and whatever else we had I offered them
a ride home, which would also give me a chance to check out the wall
they wanted painted. Their studio, 655321,
is located on Wall St. in downtown LA. If you know Wall St. then you
know the sidewalks are crawling with skid row crack whores and the like.
That aside, when I first walked into the studio I was instantly envious.
To live and work in such a great space would make living on skid row
a walk in the park. But in all honesty, the people living on the street
are not the least bit threatening. In fact, they are a very indigenous
group. Craftsmen, if you will. I have never witnessed such intricate
construction of cardboard boxes made into makeshift homes. Complete
with living rooms, dining rooms, and personal study areas. Oh, and the
wall Alex and Kelly wanted painted was huge. And bright orange. Needless
to say, I was looking forward to painting it. |
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| Fast forward two weeks. Well, fast forward to July, 26 to be exact. I strolled into Los Angeles and found myself on Wall St. at the 665231 studio just after 5:00pm. Which meant I could find parking on the street and not have to put money in the meter. Which was always a plus. I called the studio and Kelly came down to let me in. True to form, I was waiting at the wrong door and Kelly saw me down the street. He waved me over and we went upstairs. As it turns out Kelly has more paint than your average Home Depot, so I didn't have to bring any of my own. Of course I brought my own black paint because I'm very picky about that, but everything else is ok by my standards. |  in progress. i'm guessing this is day 3. |
| The wall was painted bright orange before I got there and I thought it would be a good idea to just go with it. Plus, it would save a day considering painting and drying time. Plus, orange is great, so why the hell not? The first thing I did was paint some red shapes in the upper right corner of the wall. I love red, but it sometimes takes several coats to cover. The nice thing about working big like this is that while one thing is drying you can work on something else. I wanted an interesting background with a couple layers to it, so the next thing I added was random purple and light green dots. | |
 After
that it was time to paint some faces/characters. When it comes to the
faces I paint the black lines pretty fast because I know that i'll go
over them again after I fill in the color. So, I would add a few faces
here and there and then add the blue squiggly line background. I did
a lot of the blue line work while Kelly and Alex were working on a photoshoot
with two naked girls. I had to peek over my shoulder a couple times,
but was never lucky enough to see very much. Yes, Kelly is an Erotic
Photographer and Alex does the hair and make-up on the models. They
make a great team and are both very talented. So, faces, blue lines,
filling in color and adding a little guy here and there took some time.
Working under the stair case was the most difficult part. Other than
that it was all smooth sailing. After painting for three days straight
I decided to take Thursday night off. Plus, I thought Kelly and Alex
would appreciate some "alone time". |
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 house paint on wall approx. 12 feet x 12 feet (but i'm totally guessing. it felt much bigger than that.) - BACK TO COMMISSIONS |
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For
my night off I went down to Hermosa Beach with