Painting an Epic Mural That Wraps Around this Entire Building!

Cruising along the southern coast of the serene Texas town of Corpus Christi, I was ready to transform this enormous wall into my next epic masterpiece. Inject my soul into my design and evolve my artwork to the next level. When you're an artist in the mural space and you apply to mural festivals, you never really know what you might get yourself into. Even on the fat chance you actually do get accepted. The big draw for these festivals is the creative freedom to express ourselves as artists on walls without the conforms of a commission job. It's a lot less money, but a lot more fulfilling. So when I actually did get accepted into the Corpus Christi Mural Festival, I was itching to explore my personal boundaries of what I can say with my artwork. I wanted to take this opportunity to really stretch my imagination and the emotional impact of my murals and videos. Sitting with myself and my thoughts, I started drawing. And drawing, and drawing. Each new element complemented the last. Each new feature would have double meaning. Each connection would build the story even stronger, visually and narratively. Crafting the story in my head of how it would all play out. I was going to make magic. Transforming this space into an epic story of enlightenment and perspective paired with a three-part video series. I was on the brink of creating my magnum opus. This was it. This is what I was meant to do. The culmination of my experiences and my tastes in murals and videos. I had caught the lightning. It was meant to be. Or not. You see, painting murals isn't just about me as a creator. There's other people involved. Especially the building owner. Most times it lets you have total creative freedom at these things. This was not one of those times. I pushed back and fought for my design and the narrative I worked so hard on. But to no avail. After all that, the project was dead in the water. But I still really wanted to participate in the festival. I'd love to try a different wall if there's anything available. They came back with a last-minute spot. And this building owner was actually super excited to be involved. Downscaling and reframing my whole perspective, I got back to work on another design. Intrigued by the new challenges and opportunity that this one presented. A corner wall. That could be really interesting to play with. So now, instead of delving deep into my subconscious, trying to pull out the most introspective and epic narrative to blast on this wall, I decided to relax and just have fun with it. And after checking it out on Google Street View, I got a better sense of what I was working with. And asked if I could wrap my mural around the entire building. To which they gleefully said yes. Using this beachside city as inspiration, I decided a big old octopus wrapping around this site could be really fun and engaging. With room to improvise, throw paint around, and ultimately have fun doing it. And in the spirit of having fun, I wanted to take a break from vlogging every aspect of my festival experience. And try to enjoy it as just a mural painter. So most of this video is just GoPro footage of the process. But don't worry, I'll guide us through as we dive into our aquatic journey of the opalescent octopus. Step one, base coat. I'm going for a nice, uniform, underwater-y vibe here to start off. Step two, spray paint. It's time to boogie. Since this is such a relatively small space, I'm just gonna throw it up here and start carving out the shapes of the octopus head. The textures were a lot of fun to play with and I was kind of making it up as I went along. Everything is so flowy and organic with this creature that it felt pretty easy to just paint freely and loosely and blast him up there. And at this point, I was really starting to figure out my rendering style and technique for this octopus and how it was going to look moving forward. More detail and textures to this main focal point of the mural created a dynamic that was fun and interesting to paint as I figured it out one layer at a time. Now with all that figured out, I could really sink my teeth into the rest of it. I would need to finish this entire thing before the art walk at the end of the week where we would unveil our murals to the public. I thought I'd start the next day with adding some extra flair to this octopus. He's so big that he's got other creatures hanging on for the ride. And since this wall was on the smaller side, I extended down and across as far as I could, which included this weird blocky bottom part. I wasn't quite sure how the painting would look with these deep slats carved into the structure, but I just painted it like any other surface and let the organic textures flow over it. The beauty of that is the slats start to disappear once you add all the values and dimension of your mural on top of it. And you don't have to be as precise when you're painting. Being able to wrap a design around such a unique space was a really interesting experience. I think the octopus really lent itself to this particular wall and all the surfaces that would eventually be covered with the mural. I was on a roll painting tentacle after tentacle and really having fun playing with the colors and the layers. You can see how I wasn't being too precious with my mark making, just letting it flow and create movement and a vibration with how I applied the paint. And before the day was over, I really wanted to lay out this epic Poseidon trident on the wall and make up a cool design for it to make it look extra bitchin' and extra powerful. Another beautiful day in the can. Day four cracked on. And this bar across the street was blaring dance music the entire day, giving me one hell of a soundtrack to paint to. And with this giant dance floor of a lift I'm painting on, like a good DJ, my two favorite things are about to mix. As fun as it was to really throw paint up on the wall so freely, this style was a real can killer. And as many murals as I've done, I still struggle with how many cans I'm going to need, especially on a tighter budget. I was going to have to make some more calculated decisions moving forward to create the rest of this mural, especially since I still had this wall and this wall to finish. But where there's a will, there's a way. And I just have to be a little more strategic to make the best of what I got. The further down I went on the wall, the more the tentacles turned into abstract shapes of water and energy. And I just trusted my gut that it would all come together in the end. This whole mural was a process in trusting myself and allowing things to unfold as they may. Let the wall tell me what it wants to do. Allow my hand to channel that creative force you get when you're really in flow. And I gotta be honest, sometimes when I'm filming myself all the time, it kind of disrupts the flow state. Trying to paint a huge mural while also filming a video about it has become what I'm known for. While also becoming a bit of a distraction to the love of painting. I'm glad I gave myself permission this time to just let the GoPro run in the background while I played in my big sandbox. And in order to be able to keep playing in my sandbox, I gotta be able to stay on top of all these things going on because although it may not look like I've been doing a lot of videos, I've been painting a lot of murals and I have so much stuff waiting to be edited and published. So one of the biggest upgrades I made in my productivity this year is using Notion. Running my own creative business means I'm wearing like 10 different hats and somehow you're supposed to stay creative while juggling all this other stuff. So that's where Notion comes in to streamline all this stuff. Whether I'm brainstorming new content, mapping out some merch, or even just my week, Notion helps me move from idea to actionable plan way faster. And now that they rolled out their new Notion AI, it acts as my virtual assistant. I can just hit this little guy down here and basically ask it to do anything I want tailored to my page. You know, if I want three keywords that will put me on track this year, it can help me with that. Or even if I want like a workload task list for videos, for drawing, for even for like, you know, food prep and stuff, it can help me out with that too. And because all this stuff is fully integrated into Notion, like my project management, my goal sheet, and my calendar, I don't have to find it in different places. It's all just boom right here. For me, it's like having an assistant that helps me think clearer, stay organized, and act faster. So I can maintain that high level of creativity that I really care about. So if you're a creative entrepreneur trying to do all the things, seriously, give Notion a try. I've got a link in the description. We can download it and start streamlining your productivity today. Because when you reduce the amount of decisions your brain has to make, it leaves that much more room for action. With the octopus pretty much finished, there was another whole corner of this building waiting to be painted and brought into this aquatic world. Walls, ceilings, awnings, everything got a fresh coat in order to prepare for what would ultimately turn this whole mural from a cool octopus into a full-fledged concept and story. And with a small little wall like this, there's just such a fun opportunity to let my imagination run and throw something up without any plans. Just a rough idea in my head. It was a relatively simple idea, but the execution would allow me to turn on my childhood superhero sketchbook brain and form this diver into a retro-futuristic, beefy underwater adventurer. As a kid, I loved these great illustrated classics. And one that always stuck out was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Taking inspiration from that, one layer at a time, I built up my diver with all these intricate parts in his suit. And of course, I had to surround him with a mysterious, murky ocean. But I didn't want to just stop there. I knew there was a cool opportunity to play with the space some more and really make it feel immersive. Bending around corners and filling every spot. And with a Hail Mary refill of cans from a local artist, it was time to bookend this very unique mural once and for all. Tomorrow, I would get a boom lift for one final push to the finish line. Okay, I have eight hours to paint this whole side from start to finish before the art walk tonight. I got my boom lift, so it's time to get cracking. Thinking about how this project initially started and how it ended up was an experience in patience and perseverance, which leaked into the concept on the wall as I painted it. Our curious diver sets out on an excursion to recover the lost treasures of many before him. Facing the treacherous waters and the imposing giant octopus standing in his way, he must conquer his fears and find a way to achieve his goal despite the inevitable challenge ahead. Oh, it's way hotter on this side. There's no breeze coming at me. Luckily, I got my Kipto cup here with the octopus on the other side. We can do it. A few more hours to go before the grand opening here. So let's dive in. Each mural is like a giant octopus standing in my way. All the unforeseen challenges and hiccups you gotta face as you muster up the energy each day to paint a monstrous statement on a building. And even so, whether it was your first idea or your last, sometimes you just gotta follow the fun. So whatever your goal is, even with all the inevitable risks and bumps that you will face, as abstract or sticky as they may be, take that first step. You never know what's waiting for you around the corner. If there's only one way to find out, you might have to pivot and change. And your goals might even change. But no matter what your prize looks like, the journey will always be the most rewarding treasure you will find. I might not have painted my magnum opus, but it sure is a magnum octopus. And I wanted you guys to be able to take it home with you. And continue the Kiptoe t-shirt legacy. Boom, we got another one. Really had a good time trying to squeeze out the elements that really spoke to me on this mural here and translate it into a new vertical portrait-sized illustration. Much like the actual mural process, I went through a few different renderings to get to this point here, but really happy with how I landed it and how it started speaking back to me about what it all meant. You know, it's almost like a sequel to the mural in a way. As we have our main diver here, and it's almost like he's going right past that initial point of contact with the octopus. You know, he's got that trident for himself now. He's ready, he's charging through, ready for action. And it's like these tentacles behind him are being shed. Like he's shedding what no longer serves him. Emphasized here by the surrealistic shedding on either side of his arms here as he's confidently wading through this deep water. And the tentacles here, the same color as that light emanating from the center of his helmet. Almost like a metaphor for having all these, so many distractions, but narrowing in on the one that really matters and going after it with all your might. And of course, we got a magnum octopus up on the corner here as a nod to the mural and this whole experience here. So this t-shirt is available right now on the website as a pre-order. Go to kiptoe.com and scoop yourself up a new badass t-shirt, baby. Appreciate you guys watching. More episodes on the way. A lot of stuff coming soon. Keep feeding that kinetic imagination. I'll see you on the next one.