Blackwell First Responders: Rescue Scene
Design Concept
The design concept was for a rescue scene portraying Blackwell First Responders, which was to be painted on the sidewalk in front of Blackwell Police Department.
A scene involving a hole in the ground seemed appropriate, as most 3D sidewalk murals involve some sort of hole. I drafted some design ideas to show how an anamophic 3D illusion on the sidewalk could look.
3D sidewalk murals recreate 3D objectsw by drawing on whatever is directly in the line of view behind the object, much in the same way a shadow is cast when the sun is low in the sky. This means anything shown in the mural must be as low as possible to stay within the limits of the sidewalk available to be painted on. A hole will always fit within the outline of the hole, no matter how deep it appears to be, which is why they are so popular.
Blackwell Photoshoot
After marking the sidewalk with reference points, I posed emergency responders for the final design. Notice how a mural showing anyone standing up would need to be painted across the entire street and onlto the building behind!
Final Design
The final design portrays the firefighters & EMS carrying out a search & rescue, under the symbolic protection of the police officer’s shield.
The design is then distorted until the sidewalk refence marks fit their original 8″ x 8″ pattern. The red line shows the actual halfway mark of the painting, which is very different when viewed from the perspective of where the photo was originally taken.
Test Print
I tried to use a projector, but it wouldnt work in the way I intended. My theory was if you project the photo from exactly the same place that the photo was taken, then it will appear exactly the same. Doesn’t work! Well not with my projector. So I printed out the whole image with my large format printer. First I printed out a small test sample to see my distortion technique would actually work!
Printed Overlays
There is never a day that isn’t windy in Blackwell, so I came prepared with enough bricks to hold my prints down.
The Painting
The line drawing is complete, & the underpainting started. However, the sidewalk is not flat and this distorts the image, which is particularly noticeable with the shape of the shield.
04/17.2023 Progress update: This photo was taken with glare of the sun. I estimate I have around 36 hours painting left until completion.
