Bunkie Corn Mural

I was commissioned to paint a mural on a cinder block wall 85 feet long and 6 feet tall with two smaller 5 by 6 feet around the corners. The only requirements were: corn and the names of 21 descents and in-laws. The final idea was of a cornfield and various animals lurking therein. The animals will all be sporting a floating name nearby.



Whoops, looks like I missed a red patch on these birds. I'll get that in the next session!


This is a scan of the thumbnail that I showed to my patron. It's still wrinkly from being rolled up. I'll see if i can get a better copy up.

Priming the Wall


Farewall Previous Mural Before Mine. R.I.P.


Sumerset, the first of my lovely helpers to sacrifice her knuckles and free time to the wall. Lessons Learned: sunscreen.


First coat done, but the previous mural is very stubborn and will need another coat to completely subdue it.



This is a scan of the grid i used to put the lines up on the wall.

I could collapse it into an accordion so it was easier to hold. I used up two and a half charcoal pencils drawing every thing out on the cinder blocks. The charcoal lines ended up smudging and darkening some of the lighter paints, so I won't be using charcoal pencils in the future.

Here are collaged pictures of the wall in progress:








I've painted most of it now. Only the names, a few animals and some more line work left to do. Here are some detail pictures of some of the animals:


I think this one is my favorite. She's such a cute coyote!


I really got a kick out of doing the white circle eyes on all of the birds.


This is around the corner of the main part of the mural. You can see my truck/paint station in the right side of the picture. The scarecrow was requested after I'd already started. So I stuck him on as a book end. He'll be staring eternally at the gas station that the wall faces.

Naming Names

I mentioned up top that one of the only stipulations given to me before beginning this mural was including 21 names of the family's descendents and in-laws. I spray painted the names up on top of the mural painting with stenciled bebas font. The text is seven inches high and is overlapped by the corn and animals in various places to create depth. The names are grouped into family units. Each unit is a specific animal.


Annie has the honor of being the first name on the left.


Didn't I say I was going to fix that missing red section? Dane and Jonah are squabbling over some tasty corn.


It worked out that the two black birds are the same size as there names.


Metreades the Fourth, your name is so weighty I gave you the lightest animal to serve as counterbalance.


Anna Grace is the newest member of this whole clan and she also gets the added perk of have both first and middle names on the wall. I'll have to go back later and add the Grace.


Two family units tied for having the highest number. I flipped and coin and the winner got to be rabbits. The runner up are the red winged blackbirds.


I heard somewhere that Patrick likes to hop around.


This last three units are all pairs of siblings. These crows got to take center stage, or at least they are closest to the vanishing point.


Did you know that raccoons can remember solutions to tasks for up to three years?


I liked painting the coyote at the end of the wall the best because of her little smile.

Bunkie resident Q & A

While I was standing there on the Bunkie main drag painting and sweating I got asked many questions from general passerby. I thought I might take the time to set them down here with the answers. I usually couldn't give answers before the people who asked them drove away.

Question	Answer
Come paint my house!	Muralist, not house painter
Lookin' good!	Thanks! I assume you've commenting on the mural?
Put my name on there!	Are you a descendant of M.D. Descant? No.
HONK!	I'm not going to jump when you honk at me. The first time was just a fluke. No Really, quit it.
Will you come paint an American Flag on the shed behind my house?	Will you mount my head on the wall in that shed afterwards? NO.
HEY!	No Comment
I see you're at it again, Girl.	Yes, Captain Obvious!
You been doin' this sort of thing a long time?	Yes, I was born with a paintbrush in my hand.
How much you charge to do that?	Don't stop your car in the middle of the street, Fathead! Do you want to cause a wreck?
You look like uh armadillo.	What? Isn't it a bit early for such a drastic case of mistaken identity?
Have you seen my xbox?	No, I'll be sure to catch it for you if I see it.
Keep Painting, Babe!	I don't know which is more annoying: strangers calling me pet names or the vicious, mutant ants biting my toes.
That's really pretty.	Watch the amazing inflating ego expand to improbable sizes!
HONK!beep!	Nope, I won't turn around. Busy.
That's a cricket.	NO, that's a grasshopper. You get a mark for effort, though.
Good Job!	I'm glad my toil pleases you.
That's easy, huh?	Says you, Lady.
Is that the senior class?	This is a mural.
HONK!BEEPBEEP!	Seriously, were you attention seeking jerkfaces not spanked enough as children?

I have a few burning questions of my own. I thought I might as well post them up here in the slim hope of some day getting answers.

• Did you really just walk into the gas station and buy one cigarette? I didn't know that was possible.
• Train conductors: Do you really have to blow your horn so long? You're going through downtown at 1 mile an hour. We know your coming because all the barricades are down. I'd like to think that you blow your horn because it pleases you to do so, but more likely it's because you don't want to get in trouble with your supervisor.
• How much smoke can a vehicle emit before it spontaneously combusts?
  
• Must you people honk at me so?
• What kind of engine did you put in there? I've never seen a land mower go so fast.
  
• Why not just buy two beers now instead for coming back for another later?
  

Oh, the FAME!
The Sunday Journal - June, 19 2011


My favorite part of this article is how it transitions to how darn hot it is at the end. Since all my unpaid minions were clumped together as ambiguous 'others' , I figured that I would mention them here. Kudos to you all for your sweaty, ant bitten labor!

Sumerset Bivens and Johanna Glorioso - expert white washers and ground breakers
Dennis Bivens - intermediate corn stalk painter and expert spackler
Polly Boeing - expert dirt furrow painter
Sherry Bivens - cinder block crack painter, dirt furrow painter and all around paint within the lines expert

Thank you all so much!