This project IS mine, but continues on the theme, because even though I’m painting it in my studio here in Pittsburgh its destination is back in San Diego and southern California.
 
This client and I met several years ago at one of the public art events I used to do in Little Italy San Diego, either the autumn chalk painting festival that goes with the annual Columbus Day weekend Festa or the annual spring ArtWalk– I don’t remember which, but what I like about this story is that she had kept my card for five plus years when she finally got in touch to have me paint for her.
 
She gave it to me last fall in San Diego when I went to look at her project, it had my old Sprint cel number I had forgotten about and my original web address, http://john-scenic.com. I still keep a page there, and sure enough she was able to find me. Score more points for online business presence.
 
So here’s what we’re doing, a fun bit of exterior trompe l’oeil to bring a “view” to a ground floor exercise room whose windows open to a light well.
 

Designed to view from the treadmill (above), this mural was originally going to be painted on the stucco wall outside the window on a return trip to San Diego. Because I’ve gotten so busy here in Pittsburgh not painting, that trip isn’t happening soon, so we’ve agreed that I will paint the image on canvas in the studio here and ship. My friend and colleague Eric Gilliat of Level One Art Installation will stretch and install on site.

 
Here’s a close-up of the black-and-white through-the-window mural design sketch.
 




and the head-on elevation sketch in 1.5″ scale.

 




Its a mountain landscape, with meadow and horses in the foreground, composed by specific request in an email dialogue illustrated with Google image searches. I use the black and white “cartoon” drawing like this for planning and layout purposes, and they receive approval from clients/designers before I move forward with color or samples.
 
So I’m painting this right now, taking pictures as I go to share with you here, but wanted to start from the beginning on this one. Watch for color renderings and more Pittsburgh-San Diego paint business irony this weekend.

So after a sunny early autumn blur back to Pittsburgh– unloading the truck (finally!), moving stuff around with Heather in the new place, meeting new friends and neighbors Scott and Winfrey, Yolanda and Charlie, Tommy and Jennifer and all of their kids and dogs (our neighborhood, Point Breeze, rules!) and taking Hunter to and from school today — I’m back on the plane to San Diego.

This plane goes through Denver, making three different in-between airports in the last week (Atlanta & Charlotte first) while juggling new business venture, new painting project, new city, new house in Pittsburgh, new temporary arrangements in San Diego– who knew even I could cram this much stuff into one month and its not even the 15th yet, especially considering I left San Diego for Pittsburgh in Heather’s car on September 1st!

Anyway, the highlight of the mural project prep last week in SD was my Friday night visit to the top of 501 West Broadway with photographer Mike Brown to research the missing views of the cityscape mural– “missing” insofar as the client wants to replace a few skyscrapers with more ocean, marina and sky.

Some of these aren’t so inspiring, but its what’s being hidden by the buildings to be removed, so Mike’s super high resolution pix and mighty zoom lens make them just what I needed.

I posted a view of these pix in real time from the roof (because the evening was too beautiful not to!) with my iPhone to Twitter and beyond, so Mike shot my portrait last thing, with my face actually lit by the phone.

What a difference ten years makes– no one seemed concerned about two artists with cameras wanting to be on the top of one of the tallest building in downtown San Diego on the ten year anniversary of 9/11.

I’ll post drafts of the revised mural drawings with all this new detail as soon as they are ready!

(This should have published yesterday but didn’t– go figure.)

Red and purple sunrise, Charlotte International Airport, North Carolina.

My time-zone challenged body sits here typing and gathering up pics and threads of last few days while waiting for connection to Pittsburgh after red-eye flight from San Diego.

Yes I just flew the other way on Wednesday to take up the new vertical blind cityscape mural gig and finish the Cafe Mundo mural, too– this trip isn’t for art but for family as our moving truck finally arrives today at our Pittsburgh new place, only a week late and inconveniently after I had booked the return to SD.

Since I packed it, I figured I should be the one to unpack it (both with help of course)– its the puzzle piece organization I wouldn’t wish on anyone else to deconstruct.

Its been a little crazy, for sure, but this was a project I couldn’t pass up, here’s the first pictures.

Initial paste-ups of reference photos taken by my friend Mike Brown:

Left mural panel paste-up | photos by Mike Brown

Right panel mural paste-up | photos by Mike Brown

Now here are my preliminary cartoons for the mural panels, drawn to scale (1/2″ to 1′0″) for blocking/massing purposes, not for production yet.

Left panel mural cartoon, scale 1/2\

Right panel mural cartoon, scale 1/2\

If you look close, you’ll see I’ve already edited out one building per the client’s request, but need more research to fill in the view–> see the next post for Friday night mural research pix, or what I did on the ten year anniversary of 9/11.

I’m on the road with Heather’s Subaru full of stuff, Raul and myself headed to Pittsburgh and our new set-up there. Heather and the kids flew ahead and signed the lease on our new place while spending a few days with the McGinleys, our cousins in Point Breeze. We’re very fortunate to be living within walking distance of supportive extended family!

Ironically, just as we were packing the last boxes and preparing for the moving truck last week, I landed a really cool trompe l’oeil mural project in San Diego, so I’ll be flying right back next week to paint the new project and also finish the Cafe Mundo mural I’ve written about here.

Because I’m in a hurry to get out of my motel here in Albuquerque and go have coffee with an old friend, no new mural pictures today, but I have a bunch to get of the camera, so check back soon.

If I missed you in the rush of leaving San Diego, hit me up (mobile phone and email remain the same) and we can get together later this month when I’m back.