I’ve been enjoying the recent tribute shows that I’ve been a part of, and this next show is a special one. I had the pleasure of working on a piece for the City of Irvine’s art exhibit called, “Walt and the Flying Bull.” It’s an art exhibit that pays tribute to an insignia designed by Walt Disney for the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro near Irvine, California.

For my submission, I decided to go with an arial shot of the bull in mid-flight. When I was looking for photos of the air station, I came across a lot of photos of old war planes flying over farmland and was inspired to make a simple bull design behind a more graphic background. The main idea was having the farmland and the mountain ridges look like tiles. This piece was an interesting challenge in that it was the largest watercolor piece I’ve made to date. I’ve worked on larger ink pieces before, but having to work on a piece this large required some planning.

In the progress shots below, you’ll notice that I started painting all over the paper instead of starting in one spot. This was to help keep the colors consistent throughout the piece since the watercolors could change as the paints dried out over time. I even recorded a timelapse video which I will include in a new post.

Anyways, if you’re in Orange County, please check out the exhibit! It’s being displayed at the Orange County Great Park Gallery. You can find more details of the exhibit here.