As most of you know I just wrapped up a nine night painting trip to Las Vegas with Borbay.  Contrary to popular belief we not only managed to survive, but we painted hard.  Flying to a destination to paint raises the stakes.  Time is limited, the conditions are unknown, and the unexpected will occur.

We started our mission to paint Vegas with one definite painting, the Welcome to Las Vegas Sign. We encountered menacing painting conditions and a circus of visitors.  Let me take you there…

The dry heat, blazing sun, and multidirectional dust filled wind was fierce, so I started with a quick compositional sketch.

Time to dive in with the paint.  These were the quickest drying paint conditions I’ve ever experienced.  Sometimes the paint would dry on the brush before I could put it on the canvas.

First major compositional decision to move the sign higher.

Our first Elvis visit.  Borbay’s canvas is on the right.

Starting to really get rolling with most of the canvas touched.

This woman came to the sign to take a picture with her baby bump.  I took a quick break to show my support.

Now that the composition is mapped out its time to start adding the details.

Time to add some palm trees, which always reminds me of this painting.  At this point I’m starting to feel the painting really come alive.

Action shot of a happy Borbay showing off his dirty fingers.  Stay tuned for his finished painting.

I loved the purple mountains in the background so I decided to feature them on the right side of the composition instead of a bunch of mismatched buildings.  It was at this point that I realized this painting would incorporate my interest in the relationship of man, nature and technology.  I’ll explain more at the end.

I started to add shadows in the last image, but painted over them when I decided to not capture the scene at that time of the day.  And thats a wrap for our first day painting in the desert.

Before going to sleep I realized I lost paint that fell out of my easel on the walk home to the hotel.  I knew I lost at least four tubes of paint.  I decided it was worth  a solo walk to look for the paint.  Here are two night shots I took of the sign.  On my night mission I found one tube.  The next morning on our way to the sign Borbay found another tube.  2 of 4 tubes recovered, Hooker’s Green and Violet.

The beginning of day two started with the text in the sign and deciding to get rid of Mandalay Bay in the middle of the background.

Taking a moment to step back and look at my painting from a distance.  I also wanted show you guys another Elvis.

Working on the grass, the path, and the road.  I selected a composition that invites the viewer into the landscape.  I talk more about this at the end.

Time to lock in the time of the day and add shadows again.

A picture of Borbay taking a quick break on the astroturf.  See my hat to his left?  I had just gotten up from laying down myself.  It felt so good.  See the canvas in the lower right hand side?  That is of our local painter friend Jerry Shawback.  We met  Jerry on our first day when he came by to see what was going on and ask if he could join us.  We met up with him early morning on day two.  He turned out to be a great guy and painted with us for the rest of our trip.

It took little time for us to enmesh ourselves with the tourists and local people that frequent this must-see destination. Colorful 4/20 weddings, a preggers chick with “Vegas Baby” painted to match the sign on her belly, a consortium of Elvis’ and conversations with a dope photographer by the name of Gilbert fueled us as we painted.  Gilbert showed up towards the end of our second day of painting.  He came by to tell me he found paint we left yesterday and stashed it by the bus stop.  Ten minutes later he returned with my other two missing tubes.  4 of 4 recovered.  Thanks G-man!

I met Sheila and Veronica when Sheila asked me to paint her a tattoo.  I was in the zone, but at least she didn’t ask me if I would do a caricature.  It turns out Sheila and Veronica are very cool.  They will rejoin us later in the week in a much sexier setting, stay tuned for the Broadway Bares painting update.

Sheila and Veronica posing under the sign after the tattoo.

And here is the finished painting.

The iconic sign from 1959 signifies you are entering this man made oasis in the middle of the desert.  An oasis that continues to grow with each resort trumping the next.  As I painted the sign I realized how beautiful the natural surroundings were.  I decided to eliminate all of the resorts in the composition.  A vintage throwback image of Vegas.  There are three ways of entering the image. The grass on the left is a soft resting spot, the dirt in the middle weaves back and forth, and the hard cement on the right zips right into the background.  We may be getting “there” faster, but what are we missing along the way? Which path are you on?  Which path is American society on?

Painting on location is a beautiful experience.  It’s a race against time as the light is continually changing. Being anchored in one spot all day, often days, allows you to learn things about a foreign location that you don’t even know about the street you live on.  The location becomes a living entity.  One thing for sure is this location was alive in full Vegas glory.

Here is Borbay’s finished painting.  Learn more about his painting and his process by visiting his blog.

View my other Las Vegas paintings:

The Sahara Hotel & Casino

El Cortez Hotel & Casino

Broadway Bares: 2 Hot, Las Vegas Live Painting

Check out this great time lapse video of Las Vegas that includes us painting, by Allan Gange.