This morning I and a bunch of volunteers helped paint a boarded up window in downtown San Jose. It was organized by the arts non-profit Local Color. I didn't do much besides fill ins. Local artist & sign painter, Ben Henderson did the lettering. It was fun being out there working with everyone and hanging with friends.

This morning I saw a post on Instagram to meet up at city hall and help clean up downtown San Jose. I grabbed my work gloves, rubber gloves, mask, hat and couple large garbage bags headed out after lunch. This was my first time going downtown since the protesting started and I was a little nervous driving in. When I drove by Santa Clara Street, between 4th & 6th, I expected it to look like warzone but it didn't. It was clean. It didn't look like anything out of the ordinary happened there. After parking a block away I DM'd the person who originally made the post, because I didn't see anyone cleaning, or any groups besides protesters (holding up signs or fists,) so I decided to walk around till I heard back. I hung out were the protesters were for a little bit before cruising down Santa Clara street and making a left on 1st street. I snapped some pics along the way: protest signs on storefronts, graffiti over murals (which bummed me out,) artwork on the windows at Local Color & the boards covering up Good Karma Cafe, and the peaceful protesters in front of city hall and the food & drinks that were provided to them (that made me happy.) On my way out I drove past the protesters, fist up and out the window, trying to honk my horn to the "No Justice, No Peace" chant. I sounded like shit. Later on, I finally heard back from the clean up guy. I guess they were told to leave by police once the protesters arrived.

Except for go on a walk and make this animated gif.

My friend Arely Cardenas, along with artist Jesse Hernandez, were commissioned to paint a mural during a Google conference, in collaboration with Local Color, a few months back and today it was donated to James Lick High School in East San Jose, CA. A faculty member walked me to the new building for the unveiling and as we walked thru the old halls I told her I went to summer school here in 1998. I went to Mount Pleasant High School, which was a couple miles away, flunked a bunch of classes my freshman & sophomore year and had to make them up during junior & senior year. It was that summer in between. MP didn't offer classes that summer so all our dumb asses went to Lick. 

That was also the summer The Beastie Boys released the album Hello Nasty. My friends and I went to go buy the CD when it came out at Circuit City (by Eastridge Mall) after school on a Tuesday.

Tonight I finished adding the second coat of white paint to the 3rd Redwall Studio mural I've painted. I  love red paint but it's a pain in the ass to work with. I bought the top shelf, "one coat" paint and it still needed a second coat. Even the "one coat" white needed a second pass. The plan was to have this done by New Year's Eve but it took a few extra days. Now I know. If you wanna hire me to paint your walls please send me a message.

I spent about 10 hours today painting this sucker. Gonna come back next week after it's completely dried incase it needs touch ups.

I only had a few hours today to get the materials, prep and draw the outlines using a projector and chalk. I left early to attend an event at Local Color and snapped a pic of my EMN mural while I was there. Tomorrow I'm going in early to knock out the Redwall logo.

Here's the mockup (top) of the Redwall logo I'm painting at my brother's Studio in Fremont tomorrow. I forgot we painted it on an actual red wall (left) in his San Jose location a few years back. I also designed the logo. The original pencil drawing (right) lives in on one of my old sketchbooks.

I took a picture every time I got up to clean my brush or take a break, and at the end of each night.  Over 40 hours of work in a 17 second video slideshow.

I slept for 12 hours and I still felt tired all day. The mural, DJ events and lack of sleep wiped me out. At night when I started feeling better I put away the clean laundry that's been out since last Sunday. I also stretched and went out for a walk to get some fresh air.

This coming week I'm playing catch-up. I need to fold & recount my shirts, update my online inventory, and prepare for a two day event I'm vending at this weekend. 

I worked on the mural about 10 hours a day. Monday thru Thursday.

I DJ'd a 2 hour middle school dance on Friday night and a 5.5 hour wedding Saturday afternoon. 

They were all a challenge but they were all wins. My brain is mush right now from lack of sleep.

It's done! My first mural. I've assisted friends on a couple other murals but this is the first one that I came up with and painted myself. I would do a few things differently the next time around to save time and headaches. As much as I complained about how long it was taking me, I had a blast. I got to hang out with my friends who were also painting murals and meet a lot of cool new peeps. If you can't tell, there's going to be a fire extinguisher on the bottom red portion of the mural. 

If you want all the murals in the #Gallery408 Blowout, they'll be up till the end of the year at the old Local Color building in downtown San Jose (27 S 1st St, San Jose, CA 95113)

We're going into overtime folks!

Stay tuned for the chilling conclusion in Day 4

It's slooooooooooooooooowly coming to life! I spent 9-10 hours up close & personal with the wall, a bucket of black paint and a brush. Tomorrow I'll do it with color.

I started working on my first mural on Monday. It's part of Local Color's Gallery 408 Blowout. (click the link to learn more about Local Color) I'm doing my EMN design on a wall that's about 4-5 feet wide and 8 feet tall. There's also a fire extinguisher that's going  to hang there so I'm working around that and the sign. It's a lot different than drawing with ink on paper or digitally, like I'm used to, and I'm learning as I go. The image below is after 9 hours of drawing with pencil, 2 coats of white for the eyes & teeth and the little bit of black outlines. I started by drawing directly on the wall then sketching it as I went along. I also tested some colors and decided on a minty green fill and blue border. I have 2 more days to finish it but I'm hoping I can do it in one. Wish me luck!