The Studio Plunder...A History, Part Five

2000 turned out to be a big turn around for my art. I started taking a sketch book with me every where I went. I started spending much more time on each drawing or painting. Simplicity was my objective. I was shooting a lot of photos as well. I was fascinated with high contrast.

James

John

Marilyn - unfinished


I loved sketching places that I spent time. In this case it was the restaurant. When ever I got a break I would sit on the fire escape in the alley and draw.

This was a tough night. This is drawn on the back of one of our menus.



I always wanted to do murals. One of our servers asked me one night if I would paint her apartment. After we talked I realized she wanted a scene, not just a paint job.

This is what I came up with.

This is the one we decided on. It was 8 1/2 x 12 feet, in full color. I painted it on her bedroom wall across from her bed. It took me a couple of weeks. About three weeks after I finished she was forced out by one of her room mates and she painted over it to get her deposit back.
It was still worth it. I love doing things like this. About half of the places I have ever lived I have painted murals on.