Dawnie's First Sideshow Banner

My place of employment is having an employee art show, in which I am participating. I've been working on this doggone thing for months now, but not as much as I should have been. (Don't ask.)

Loads of tiny little dots are the beginning of what lies ahead. The only place big enough to do this was the narrow hallway that leads to the bathroom. This meant that I could stand back and take a look not more than a foot away...

The next step was transferring the original drawing to this makeshift graph. I didn't take pictures of that because the pencil wouldn't have shown up anyway. This was tougher than I remembered it to be and my devil (yes, there is a devil -- don't be alarmed!) was really giving me trouble, as devils tend to do.

So the next step was to start painting. I used basic acrylic paints in basic bright colors, mostly because I wanted it to look like it could go up on a circus tent. But also because I'm cheap and I also don't have a well-ventilated area to work in. Acrylics it is!

Notice how cheerfully I work here! And there aren't even any toxic fumes! There's every possibility I'm just giddy from the height. I had to stand on a folding step ladder to paint the top of this. This is the largest piece I've ever worked on. (Well... except for those stupid murals for my high school prom, but that I'd just as soon forget about entirely.)

More paint. I bought waaaaaaayyyy too much paint for this project, since I had no idea how much I would need. So if you need something covered with purple acrylic paint, let me know, because I got you covered.

You can see my little colored pencil sketch hanging there beside the painting. That's what I was working from... and that's what I used as my documentation for the gallery submission, because I wasn't at all finished with this for the submission deadline. (What, me procrastinate? Sir, I take offense!)

Yes, I procrastinated and was working on this thing until the eleventh hour. I did manage to get it finished and hung, though, even with all the nail biting and cliff-hanger like dramatics and such.


Here it is almost complete. I just needed to slap a top coat sealer mixed with yellow ochre to dull it down a bit (it didn't dull down much, but at least it's got a sealer on it. Which says something, I'm sure... I don't know to whom).

It's extremely hard to try and figure out how a large work is going to look when you can only step back five feet, and at an angle, no less. I was really, really hoping that this thing wasn't going to be lopsided.

So kids, if you're planning on painting a big old sideshow banner, make sure you've got a nice big studio space. Or that you can work outside or something. Cramped quarters are really a bummer to paint in.



Anyhow, here it is hung in its designated spot. (Gallery space number 42! I totally geeked out about having number 42! I completely bewildered the poor volunteer at the front desk with my Douglas Adams reference!)

I would like to now thank a couple of folks for their invaluable help and support with this. First, thank you Susan Harter for your advice and expertise. Susan is a fantastic professional artist and one of my bestest pals on this planet. I'll never be able to paint as well as Susan does, but her advice and encouragement allows me to play in a medium that is a little intimidating to me. Next, a boat load of thanks goes to David for his patience and only a little eye-rolling at my less stellar moments. He made sure this puppy hung sure and straight, even if my measurements may have been a tad "eccentric". Not only are you the love of my life, you are the swelliest!

Anyhoodle, if you want to see this thing with your naked eyeballs, you can go to Gallery 2 at 847 W. Jackson, 3rd Floor, Chicago 60607, from January 12-25, 2008.