Bye 2012...

Thank you for all the continued support, love, & especially 

to anyone who purchased work. Looking forward to a lot more in 2013.

From canvas to customer...

I had an idea for a painting I wanted to do for awhile. I sketched out the idea in detail first. Planning out the layout. Process photos below.

 A friend of mine, David, shot a black bear awhile ago. I'm not personally into killing animals, but many of my friends do for food. So I photographed the amazing skull of the black bear. I had also photographed a very small owl a year or so ago. The two worked perfect together. I like how owls watch in the night over the forest floor and see everything the happens around them. Hence why I named this piece 'Guardian'. 

 Two days after I finished the painting it sold to David's wife, who purchased it as a Christmas gift for him. I love seeing the work once it reaches the clients hands and how happy they are. Thank you guys!

'Guardian' / by Patrick Maxcy / 11'x14'

Drawing Series cont...

Awhile ago I started doing shaded & completed drawings again. These drawings are based on real people I know but told through a different life story. A story based on the lives of sea captains and old fisherman. I always use photos I have taken or friends have taken. 

The last drawing I did was based on a Native American from Pine Ridge Reservation. My good friend photographer, Brian Nevins, gave me access to a few photos from a recent trip to South Dakota to use. 

          Here is the drawing process for this image for my ongoing series...

LGH Mural...

A couple weeks ago while out in Grand Junction, Colorado; I was asked to paint a new mural at the Light Gives Heat storefront. They wanted some lettering done pretty large near the front entrance. After doing a quick sketch I got started on the wall. About 5 hours later the wall was complete.

 They decided they liked the mural design so much it should be used for their upcoming winter line. After a new inked design was drawn up, hoodies & girls swoop necks were printed, and finally now being sold in the online store. (Not too many are left) The design has been showing up a lot, including a recent news report on Colorado's NBC news.

This was a fun break from what I normally do & I enjoyed it.

Pine Ridge Reservation...

I recently went to the the Pine Ridge Native American Reservation in South Dakota for the 6th time. Went with the organization Love,Light,&Melody.  My goal this trip was to paint a 30ft x 10ft mural in a school hallway in Manderson aka 'Murderville'. It's known as one of the most dangerous areas on the reservation. 

During the first couple days we were invited to a Pow Wow. This was pretty big and I was honored to attend my first one. Hundred of kids dressed in amazing hand-made outfits and danced traditional dances in this competition. I really wasn't sure how they could tell who was the best with all the kids but it really was great to hear the men tribal singing and seeing all the dancing going on for quite some time.

 This was one of the largest groups of friends I've gone with.

 We visited our good friend Bernard's home where we got hang and have the usual jam session. Bernard finally got his shirt that I drew & designed for his fun band. 'Barney Fife & the One Bullet Band'. Some of the most amazing sunsets I've ever seen have been right from is little house and vast land.

 A couple days later I finally got started on the mural at the school. I wanted to incorporate native animals within the design. The school also had a basic idea/theme. Since it was for kids I kept it bring and fun.

 About 5hrs into painting the mural we got news of a major snow storm headed our way. Watching the weather carefully I had to start packing up the paints. Pretty bummed as I realized I might not be able to finish the wall. We slowly drove back to a safe shelter.

 The next morning the weather was 3 degrees but clear. So at 5:30am I headed back to the school and painted as fast as I could with the little time I had left to finish. (Below is a few detail and process photos.) The kids all loved the mural and were super excited to see it in their halls. Having them feel proud of their school and happy to see the mural makes it all worth it.

Uganda mural 4&5...

I decided to toss the last two murals I did in Uganda into one post. I'm getting behind on my updates. These last two images were really fun because I did them at an amazing school that was walking distance from where I was staying. The principal loved me and told me I could paint anything I wanted. So once again I gave the kids a choice.

 This one was originally an elephant holding a large stick full of birds but the kids all seemed to love the fish. Fish are very common in the area around Lake Victoria. This one only took me about 5 hours. Once again I painted as tons of kids watched patiently every move I made.

 this next mural (below) was on the main staff building. Outside of the principals office. There was going to be several monkeys also sitting on various higher parts of the windows and walls. But the wooden ladder that was built fell apart. So, no monkeys were added. :)

 As always I used animals that were local to the area. One of Uganda's main animals is called a Kob, a type of antelope. I also saw several kingfishers along the Nile River. So I added one of those as well.

The kids here were some of my favorite. I spent almost an entire day just running around with them and playing various games. Most all the kids who go to school here have left their families and live in the same buildings full time. 24/7 kids everywhere. Little adult supervision and yet still just amazing bright kids who thirst for knowledge. Always asking me about America and different things in life.

London travels...

A recently got to travel and visit some of London, UK. I got to run around with my good buddy Dave from Light Gives Heat. From Heathrow Airport we traveled through Chriswick Park, Hammersmith, Piccadilly Circus, and Leicester Square. Running around to see the sites. 

 Dave loves the clothing company Johnny Cupcakes, a few turns and there it was. One of only five stores in the world. He couldn't have been happier. Afterwards we stopped in this (literally) underground Asian cafeteria style place:   Two Americans eating Asian food in London... Ironic.

 We saw the Westminster Abby, the London Eye, the 2012 Olympic rings, Big Ben clock tower, Palace of Westminster, Ministry of Defense, etc. I even got hit by a cab while trying to cross the road. I rolled onto his hood a bit as he lurched on by. Startled me quit a bit.

 After traveling back through London I stayed in one of the smallest and oddest hotels I had ever been in. There were buttons, lights, & peculiar things that took me a bit to figure out. But sleep was well needed.

London was very expensive but I hope to visit again soon one day.

Uganda Mural 3...

More Uganda updates  -  (A bit out-of-order) 

One late afternoon I headed down to the Nile River to watch some wild Vervet monkeys. I went with Brent from the organization IamJ3, and sat on the bottom of a small hill. I watched 3 or 4 of them only to turn around and see several more right behind me. It was an amazing experience but a bit startling to have 12 to 15 monkeys all around you so closely.

 One of the very first murals I started was at the Light Gives Heat SUUBI building. The main building where a lot of LGH business takes place. The area was very close to Victoria Lake and I noticed people trying to sell their days catch throughout the village. I decided a giant tilapia fish would be perfect for this building. Dave & Brent did a great job cleaning the walls of all the red dirt & dust before I started painting. I wanted the blue design to flow from the outside to the inside with ease.

All the SUUBI woman and the kids within the village loved the building. The high contrast and bright blue really stood out within the small huts of the village. 

Below is a quick time-lapse while painting the mural in Danida, Uganda.

Uganda Mural 2...

When I start a mural I normally roughly sketch out the entire piece with a pencil. I quickly learned that a pencil would quickly wear down on most walls in Uganda. It just wouldn't work at all. Charcoal is pretty common in markets around Jinja. I thought I'd try it out on a small wall. It worked perfect! Of course the first thing I sketched was an octopus. All the Ugandan woman looked at it with a puzzled expression... Having no clue what it was. :)

Now I know that the charcoal worked perfect I sketched out the next local animal. I heard there were water buffalo close by. I didn't see any but I saw many cattle with amazingly large horns. I found an old water tank at a local school and that's where I started painting. Of course the children gathered closely watching every move I made. But they made me continually laugh & smile.

This was the quickest mural I did. Probably because it was in direct hot sunlight.

More murals & Uganda updates to come...

Uganda Mural 1...

My trip back from Uganda has been a bit overwhelming. Looking through almost 1000 photos from a trip can be daunting at times. So I will be breaking these blog posts into several posts over however long it takes.

Right before heading over to Africa I researched several animals local to the area. I roughly sketched out a few possible ideas for wall murals.

During my 4th day there I started work on a large mural at a school I visited. The school had great walls to work with and had amazing views overlooking Lake Victoria as well as parts of Jinja. It was a long process just to start a wall (That process will be in another future post). Five hours later the wall was complete with a large Ugandan Crested Crane: The Ugandan bird &  their country's symbol.

Below is a time-lapse of the entire Crested Crane mural process.

I will continue to post more murals, personal sketches, & writings.