Time Lapse of Dalvero Whale Mural in Provincetown

I put together this time lapse of the 2 fun days Dalvero artists spent working on a group mural in Provincetown, MA. Amazing to see it all in 3 short minutes.

One of my thumbnails that informed a portion of the group mural. It's a visualization of the four main dangers that whales and marine species face today: trash, entanglement in nets, noise pollution and boat strikes.

A Learning Drawing

I am back from the drawing (bootcamp) class with Dalvero Academy in Orlando's Walt Disney World. It's the best and my favorite place to study!

Here's a real learning drawing: I was grinding my teeth while doing it, figuring out the space and the constantly moving conveyer belt of people along the winding layers of stairs, standing on top of this  Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse in Magic Kingdom, under the beating sun rays in nearly 100F degree heat. The best way to learn something is to step out of your comfort zone. This treehouse is like an incarnation of Escher's drawing, which is a nightmare and great fun to draw, all at once. I *could* do without the heat, but hey - might have been worse: one of those torrential downpours that faithfully came and went every afternoon during our trip. Actually, the next drawing I'll be posting happened during a storm.

ArtsWestchester Exhibit :: Part 2 : Mural

Mural "What It's Like To Be a Fish" is now on view at the ArtsWestchester gallery through August 2012. It was done in collaboration with a dear friend, artist Eddie Pena, for a group show "Fish Tales" about the vital waterways of Long Island Sound. We started our research last summer by hitting local aquariums, drawing and learning about the species. 

In our mural, the left side is salty sea water, and the right side is fresh water. The middle is where they meet to form an Estuary, which is exactly what Long Island Sound is. Eddie and I intended our mural to be educational, so we took care to represent the species accurately. We depicted some endangered ones, like the Sand Tiger shark and the Loggerhead turtle. You might also recognize Black Drum fish, Atlantic Cod, Sturgeon, Striped Bass, Moon jellies, seahorses, terrapins, Blue crab, Sea Robin and more! See if you can spot the Clown fish (remember Finding Nemo?)

Here are some of my drawing studies from the aquariums. It was such a great experience to work on this mural! The final piece that's on view is enlarged to wrap around the whole room and features a transparent window overlay. Special thanks to La Benida Hui of R.A.R.E., the curator of this group show!

I believe...

I just stumbled upon a forgotten project from the Rockefeller Center in one of my sketchbooks. It's a series of mural designs illustrating John D. Rockefeller, Jr. quotation as inscribed on the plaque by the skating rink. I absolutely love this quote. Here's an excerpt to go with this design:
"I believe in the sacredness of a promise, that a man's word should be as good as his bond; that character-not wealth or power or position-is of supreme worth."