LOCAL: I have no leads on a mural location, and that has been a drag. I paint a wall in a real place, so I need to know the wall’s dimensions so I can create the image.
My alternative is to create three images with general aspect ratios: a 3:5, a 1:1, and a 5:3. What if the available space is long and skinny? New sketches and renderings follow. My oil paintings have been rejected for not framing the town profile, so I am working on that.
Behind the artistic rendering of the working image is a dozen hours I plowed in digitally editing the image so it resembles the final rendering.
How much paint do I need? Do I use vinyl strips instead? How many brushes per square yard do I need? How many layers per color? What colors work in this environment? How much drop cloth does this require? Do I need a lift? Do I need help? Do I need a table saw to cut wood for a frame? Can I get an electric drill to mix paint? I need one. Rich artist problems. Do I need adhesives and fabric to provide a smoother painting surface to save money on paint over a ridiculously uneven wall surface? Have I advertised the planned installation with a plug for Art Council donations? Can be made aware of the collective efforts of all the artists currently working on murals in Brownsville? I can answer questions as needed. I need a wall.
DRONE: I flew the creek and the river, got another good image.
Follow-up to drone shout-out becomes epic plug. I review drones for a living – and I rarely encounter something as game-changing as this upcoming water sports drone.
Okay, I’ll relate a story that I associate with the need for a water drone.
I have a photograph that has traction on Google Maps. It has over a half million views. It was taken from the seat of a kayak on the river next to the Brownsville wharf in 2018 at the start of a 13-mile kayak race. The finish line was the Belle Vernon wharf. I had filmed it the year before with my first pro drone. The Mayor of Belle Vernon got me involved in the event, and, well, I was consumed with the need to paddle a kayak downriver, to experience this firsthand because the footage was exciting.
Back to the photograph with 565K views: I was using a small beginner’s kayak, my first time in a kayak. Some of the other kayakers were bringing coolers, radios, friends in tubes, canoers, paddle board riders. More of a party than a race, mind you. Once I was in the water and no longer terrified of flipping over, I carefully unpacked my camera and took a brief video and a few photos. I was too scared I would drop it. I packed it back up and focused on the race. I think I placed 5th because I was a marathon runner and sort of zealous about endurance activities at the time. It was slow and steady work. I had to make way for barges and watch for ski boats. So, I was good and sore for a week afterwards.
I remember I got water at a halfway point around Allenport o at an aid pier where the race volunteers grabbed and held my kayak while someone handed me a bottle of water from an icy cooler, asked how I was doing. I remember putting the bottle to my face and neck. I was soaked with sweat and river water. If I was doing any better, I would have been two of me. When I finished the race I spent the afternoon at an arts fair, listened to bluegrass, ate dogs from a cart vendor.
The previous year I had filmed the race from various points.
I would love to get more drone shots of kayakers on the Mon River, during a race, and not worry about water damaging my equipment.
Incidentally, I lost my last drone in a creek in Confluence, PA. I had to come back the next day and wade in chest-deep water until I spotted it downstream a few yards in the slimy creek sand. I got the microSD card out of it and disposed of the drone. That’s why I want a waterproof drone. Better recreation!
SCIENCE: Comet hype.3I/ATLAS: The last time we had an interstellar traveller, it was tiny compared to this one. This is the fastest interstellar traveller we have ever seen. It will cross the plane of the ecliptic in the orbit of Mars. As NASA Missions Study Interstellar Comet, Hubble Makes Size Estimate – NASA Science
ART: Andy Warhol it. DIY Warhol – The Andy Warhol Museum
Falcon P & O 
Leave a comment