Portrait Mural

These are some of the 44 people who's portraits' I painted.

The instructions for participation. It was very difficult for some people to pose without a smile.
I wound up taking more photos then I was able to paint in 8 hours.

I love how Jim's portrait came out. He has great hair.
In the upper right corner, I painted in Chinese the student's name. She kindly gave me a clear written sample to work off of. I hope it came out properly.

I love how the names came together in this part. It happened somewhat organically.
Order emerged out of chaos.

Charmaine was one of the artists in the show. Most impressively,
she used her feet as a drawing tool for part of a pastel mural.

Lisbeth, a student at the college was the first portrait in my mural.
She was most helpful and fun to talk to.

Satchi was a young and reluctant participant. When asked his name, he said "No Way!".
His mom helped me out.

This weekend I was invited to Allegheny College to participate in their annual 8 Hour Projects exhibit. Along with a dozen artists, I was given an area in the gallery and 8 hours to create my project. Over the course of the day, I took instant photos of the general public, artists and students that came to gallery to watch. Looking at those photos, I painted 44 portraits on the wall. It was SO MUCH FUN. The people were all so willing to participate and the energy of the gallery was extremely inspiring.

One real highlight of the show was seeing little kid's reaction to the instant camera. I guess they have grown up in an age with very few instant cameras and could hardly believe the magic of it. It's funny how old technology can remain so impressive. When asked how it works, my response:"Lots of chemicals."