Live Painting at Red Rocks
I was invited to do some Live Painting last night at Snowboard on the Rocks event held at Colorado’s Red Rocks amphitheater. Well, the invite was around 10:00p the night before, and kind of caught me off guard. I never have done “live painting” at an event before, let alone at Red Rocks. After some beers and thinking, it hit me that this was an amazing opportunity that I had to jump on.
I thought of my subject on the way home from work yesterday evening and printed out a couple photos. I decided since one of the best MC’s of the hip hop world was performing, I figured he would make a good subject, so a portrait of Del was the objective.
I got to the venue and there were two other artists set up on the right and left sides of the stage. I met one of the talented artists named Brian, who did an amazing charcoal portrait of Del as well, so I guess the funky homosapien was the man of the night. Brian was a really cool person and humble about his awesome piece and talent. Although it didn’t turn out to be an original idea, I decided to proceed with my acrylic portrait of Del.
I think this was one of the quickest pieces I have ever painted, as I was just feeling the energy and was excited for the whole show and also wanted to make sure to catch some of the videos and performances. This was a style that I was just experimenting with based on my time and surroundings. A little looser, expressionistic style then some of my other portraits. Plus, this was a larger scale piece then I usually have worked with, but I must say, larger pieces are much more fun to paint. I was pretty focused and laying down the paint for some time and didn’t even pay attention to time, and then I went back in the crowd with my girl for a break and to watch the beginning of Del’s performance. I headed back down to finish the portrait while Del was still performing, which was a really awesome experience. Bukue One was heading up the stage as well and throwing down some skating skillz.
It turned out to be a great event, even with minor technical difficulties (not the Mack Dawg snow video but w the projector). I did miss some of the videos premiered, but I can watch those on DVD, I’m not sure when I’ll be able to paint up near the stage at Red Rocks again.
I received several compliments and offers, which was kind of my guide of the progress of this piece, as it was a larger canvas and I was crammed in a little corner at the right of the stage, so I couldn’t step back very far to view it in its entirety and ideal viewing distance.
Finally, near the end of the show, another girl expressed her interest in it and offered to purchase it. Not only did it feel good to get great feedback and an offer on a piece, but it just added so much more to my night. Needless to say, I sold the piece and I only have some photos of it from my phone. Thank you to the girl (Beth?) who purchased this painting. I really hope you enjoy it! And thanks to everyone who provided their support and compliments! And a big Thanks to Melissa for inviting me to paint at this awesome event!
I also got a chance to head backstage and meet the man himself, and he was really chill, even with all of the fans hitting him up for intros and pics. It was a good night.
