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.

Solo show at Unity...

Tomorrow night I have a solo show opening in Denver. If you're in the area stop by and say 'Hello'.  I have 13 originals works as well as 5 different signed prints on display and available for purchase. Opening night is Friday, November 2nd. The show will be up until November 28th.

I will have five drawings showing that I have not shown publicly yet. Examples...