Med School Murals
 

In my third year of medical school I started to feel increasingly depressed. I was living in the UK for my clinical rotations and staying in a hospital flat at the time. I soon realized my ill mood was due to the fact that I hadn't done any artwork in over 2 years!

I woke up one Saturday morning with that revelation .... also with the instant desire to put a mural on my wall. Actually, "desire" is a weak word - I "knew" I had to do it - even though it wasn't my property ... and deal with the consequences later.

I got dressed and didn't even eat or shower before I took the bus to town and found an art supply store. I just bought the softest charcoal I could find and returned to the flat. For the entire weekend I started charcoaling the walls with almost no breaks. I was applying the charcoal with my bare hands and fingertips - working with the texture of the wall to mimic the grain of a black & white photograph. After a few days I lost my fingerprints and had to wait for them to grow back because it affected the charcoal application.

I finished my first one that weekend ... but soon I found myself doing more and more in the days to come - like some grand catharsis.

When my clinical rotation was done I informed the hospital of my "vandalism" to the flats and offered to paint over it or pay for the damages .... but they let it go after they saw it.

My next rotations were in New York and Connecticut at the hospital owned apartments I did the same ... I think the one in New York is still there.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ne/mural_1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ne/mural_2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ne/mural_3.jpg
the face in this last one is reproduced from a Man Ray photo I liked

And you're in Med school????? These are ..well, fabulous seems trite...
You are a true artist.

thx.
I was going to go into Product Design and studied some Illustration and Design at the Academy of Arts College in SF but I'm mostly self taught. I changed my career ideas when I realized that the visual arts and design was only fun when I got to do my own stuff - I freelanced for a bit and learned quickly that working for a client can be a real drag.

I figured if I went to medical school (my other passion) I'd still have my art. Completing my Illustration & Design Degree then Product Design would only get me a degree and a portfolio ... after which I'd have to knock on doors for work ... I didn't want to end up with an easel making tourist portraits on Times Square.

Those look very good. Good thing you are keeping your tallents alive.

The second and last one are my favorite. Would love those on my walls. Was the last pic done on a tiled surface or did you draw that texture in?

I put the texture in by making some "squares" darker than others ... I'm glad you noticed.

Wow...

I'm impressed. I wish I could draw like that, especially on that scale.

dude..... :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:



nicely done man.........these are great.


so....they're "all" still on the walls,or have they been painted over?.....(a shame if that's the case)


2nd last one is my fav............excellent work.


thank you

thanks.

I actually enjoy working "big" - In fact, these were the first murals I've ever done. Prior to that I worked on paper, vellum, newsprint etc.

With murals you get to work from the shoulders and arms rather than just your wrists. It feels a lot more "free."

The profile (#2) is about 4' high. The lady (#4) is 6' high. And the last one (#5) is about 4' high.

I have no idea - that was about 8 years ago.

It doesn't matter ...the experience for me was in making them. When I'm done making any piece of art it then belongs to the world - I don't keep any of my art.

nice! a couple of the art majors my freshman year decided to watercolor the walls...it was some sweet stuff, but we couldn't convinced the school to let us keep it up.

glad they recognized art when they saw it.

cool.
how long did y'all keep it up? any photos? :D

there are photos...but since it's not *my* work...i'm not sure if i can post here. i'll maybe just PM them, if i can find 'em.

we were told to take it down a week later...it took two nights of scrubbing to get all of it off...my washcloths still have stains in them from that.