Jake of CrossFit REP found out about my work through a referral from an old friend Sarah, who reached out to see if BAMFaktory was still doing painting gigs. My partner Brad did the brand mural at her old company Golden Arm Media back in 2015, but since he has a full time job hasn’t been taking on any outside work. Since I’d been freelancing full-time, I decided this would be a great opportunity for me to do my first solo mural project.
CrossFit REP already had a logo mural on their wall, but the color didn’t quite match his branding. He also wanted a big hashtag painted across the top in line with a 1ft purple bar that had been started at the top of the mural wall. Since I had done a few hand-lettered signs for weddings in the past, I suggested that he let me free-hand the tagline at the top rather than stenciling or taping off each individual letter as it would save time and cost.
In total, the project took me a bit over 18 hours over three days to complete, with a quick pre-work session to test the paint colors. I used a level and ruler to grid out the tag line prior to painting. For the logo, I used their projector and also fashioned a compass out of a string and split key ring to make sure my circles were perfect.
I’d love to do more mural work in the future, especially with some creative elements. Please contact me for a quote, if you are interested in commissioning your own mural.
This year, when my friend Jacque’s hubby met his idol, the fantastic Dave Grohl, she knew of the perfect gift for him to honor this exciting moment.
She had seen the black ink drawings I did in preparation for the Afterhours Canvas Battle and commissioned me to help capture this moment in a similar style.
Overall, this 11″x14″ piece took around 6 hours to complete, done entirely in black ink with Micron and Stabilo fineliners with Sharpie and Copic markers on Strathmore smooth bristol paper.
Reference Photo
Sketchbook Draft
Final Portrait
If you’d like to commission your own fan portrait, click here to see my rates and make a request!
Inktober is a drawing challenge started by illustrator Jake Parker in 2009. My first Inktober was in 2017 and I decided to join in the fun this year, as well!
This year, I did 31 character designs with Copic markers and Micron and Gelly Roll pens on 4″x 6″ cards. Additionally, I did 3 different character illustrations on my Wacom tablet in Photoshop for the AdobeMAX Inktober contest.
Poisonous — Croaca
Tranquil — Glermp
Roasted — Renee
Spell — Benito “B”
Chicken — “Gallina”
Drooling — “Shake”
Exhausted — Karen
Star — StarDog
Precious — Precious Pockets
Flowing — Acadia
Cruel — Sandy
Whale — Fhtabiin
Guarded — Jake
Clock — The Clock Master
Weak — Gertrude
Light — Lucian
Angular — Ang Ülar
Build — Alan
Swollen — Gary
Connect — Cyn
Bottle — Bodie
Scorched — Kryzztinoth
Breakable — Alexis
Drain — Simon
Expensive — Thumbelina
Muddy — Marla
Chop — Octavian
Prickly — Caroline
Come see me draw live at the Canvas Battle, Nov 9!
Stretch — Swati
Thunder — Bruud
Gift — Skyler
Double — Sophia
Jolt — Scott “JoltMan69”
Slice — SliceBoy
If you are looking to grow your audience, get your work seen, and meet new artists across the world, joining in existing social drawing challenges, like Inktober or MerMay, is a great way to increase your impressions (views) and following!
If you’re interested in owning one of these Inktober originals, I’ll be giving them away to Raven-level patrons, so please subscribe to my Patreon.
For one of my childhood friend’s weddings, I gifted her this custom-airbrushed commemorative ceramic tray inspired by their wedding hashtag, #PachoLife.
When my cousin Zach got married, he and his wife had this cool idea to transform this boat stern bar he used for events at his store into a custom bar for their wedding.
Since I happened to be up in Maine for the wedding, my assistance was requested in painting this custom bar and for some lettering on some of their chalkboard signage.
