MTN Australia

The might fine folk at MTN Australia featured Sauce on their blog! As an independent artist, it’s always exciting to receive recognition for your efforts. 

Sauce has always used the best quality paint he can source. Since his artwork is his best form of advertising, he can’t afford to be associated with poor quality, which is why he made the choice to exclusively use MTN 94. 

In the Sauce Studio, we also think it’s a perfect match since Sauce started paining in 1994, which was the same year MTN was created. It can’t be a coincidence!

Exit 75

When I said Sauce was busy, I wan’t exaggerating! He managed to smash out this Stomper on the Gold Coast over two days. It was in the pipeline for a while, as Sauce know it would be a mission to finalize. During this time, we received word that another Writer, Polka passed away, so it was fitting this wall would be a tribute to the young man who died too soon. 

There were heaps of different challenges to negotiate, from lining up paints to having enough space on site. The wall which is visible from the motorway, doesn’t have many neighboring buildings, so the ‘nature strip’ was more of an overgrown tangle of weeds with a large and steep drop. The lack of buildings also meant Sauce was unable to source power for his airless spraygun so the background was done with rollers. He was definitely stinky when he came home, so I can assure you plenty of sweat went into this wall.

This wasn’t the first time Sauce had painted here. Previously, an old friend Roms had organised permissions for the wall, but over time Roms had other things to manage and he graciously handed it over to Sauce to maintain.

Strive to Excel

In between the Brisbane Buddah and the piles of paperwork which are taking over the studio, Sauce headed out to Upper Mt Gravatt State School where he added some signs and painted a mural. 

The hand painted signs were a deviation from his usual work, however the school wanted something which had longevity and was visually striking. The mural in the ball court wasn’t Sauce’s first work at the school, as earlier in the year he created a cultural mural which the pupils at the school loved. 

Update on 2014-11-28 01:04 by sauce

The Dragon and the Buddha

This smiling Buddah was for a heavy metal dude in suburban Brisbane. I received a call while Sauce was on his previous tour of Central QLD, for an enquiry about a mural with the aurora borealis, a Chinese Buddah and a dragon. It sounded great, but we needed to be patient, as Sauce only had a few weeks in-between his next trip away. 

The family who commissioned this mural were great to work with. Not only were they patient, they entertained Sauce with great rotation of heavy metal while being a pleasure to work with. The design elements were easy, since they had a clear idea about what they wanted, but they also let Sauce take some artistic licence where necessary. 

Apparently, the family were so happy with the outcome, they were arguing amongst themselves as to whose idea it was to get Sauce to the mural! We think it looks pretty rad as Buddah is always an effective image to work with. 

Parks and Recreation

Over the weekend, Sauce and I caught an old Parks and Recreation episode, The Camel where the Parks Department design a new mural for the town. Not only did we laugh ourselves silly because Parks and Recreation is one of the best Sit-Coms around (Ron Swanson is pretty damn funny), but the episode remind us of some experiences we’ve both had when dealing with past clients and councils. In light of the mistakes made by Leslie Knope and the rest of her team in the Parks Department, I thought I would add a post with some hints and tips about designing and commissioning a mural.

•  Have a clear idea about why you’re commissioning a mural, and allow this to set the tone and theme. If you want a mural to encompass a town, think of the narrative or story that town has to offer. Also, keep in mind of the whole story of the town. In the Parks and Recreation episode, a new mural was commissioned, since the original mural was defaced due to it’s racist undertones. 

 

• Who is the target audience? Is this mural a part of a graffiti management strategy, or is it about adding colour? Is the mural a part of your advertising strategy, or all of the above? A mural can be an effective way to discourage unwanted vandalism, but this is only going to work if it is culturally appropriate. The target audience should influence and shape the theme. A lovely and peaceful scene of an elderly person feeding the pigeons in the park sounds great on paper, but if you want to deter vandalism, you’re going to need to add something a bit more relevant.

•  Where is the mural? If the mural is in the CBD of town, or an area of high traffic, then it is worth spending more time and effort to make it stand out and memorable. If the mural is in a town, will people be taking photos and selfies in front of it? Is this mural a large component of your advertising strategy? The saying of ‘you get what you pay for’ rings true here. If you want a showpiece or stand out feature, it pays to hire a professional mural artist who can guide you through the design process. By asking people with no public art experience and expecting a committee to make an assertive and creative design you’re just setting yourself up for failure. And let’s not forget one of the most realistic lines from the show:

Landscape Architect: “It’s a camel.”

Leslie Knope: “A camel?”

Landscape Architect: “A camel is what you get when you ask a committee to design a horse.”

And lastly, be mindful of simplicity. There is nothing worse than a convoluted message which tries to be all things at once. 

To organise a design consultation, contact us today.

Barcaldine

After a fortnight in Emerald, it was time to pack up the Mural Truck and get back on the road. This time, Sauce was headed to Barcaldine where he had arranged to paint at St. Joseph’s Primary School and in the CBD.

While Sauce was painting in the town centre, some feathered friends had a sticky beak at all the action. You can check out the excitement on Youtube. 

As always, Sauce made the most of his time out West and completed some canvas work and a backdrop for one of the locals in town. 

Emerald May - June 2014

 

Things may have seemed quiet in the studio for the past month, but Sauce has been anything but quiet. Last month, he toured Central Queensland with thanks to Anglicare CQ and spent the past month flat out like a lizard drinking. Anglicare celebrated thirty years of service this year, and we realised that Sauce has been working with the organisation for the past decade. 

For this trip, the Anglicare CQ team from Emerald kept him busy with countless workshops for the young people of Emerald and he painted a few murals too. The locals of Emerald also keen to have their walls painted and Sauce managed to smash a few commissions too. 

It wasn’t all work and no play. Hayley (the most effective and efficient Youth Worker this side of the Black Stump), was generous enough to take Sauce to Fairburn Dam for the day where he indulged in some wake boarding! The Emerald and CQ crew are always a pleasure to work with, and Sauce is already planning to head back out again. Next stop: Barcaldine. 

As you can see, Sauce has loads of pictures from his trip away. Too many for one blog post! To see the action unfold, follow us on Instagram!

Ski Boat

 Sauce spent a month in Central Queensland and painted more murals than he can count. On a rare day off, he painted a mate’s boat, just for fun. 

Feathered Friend

This mural is in the showcase section of our studio and everyone who walks in loves the cheeky lorikeet. Landscape and animal murals are popular with the public as the content is simple and accessible. For us in the studio, a new mural always adds some colour and reinforces our branding. If you’re looking to add some ‘WOW factor’ to your office or home a mural is a really simple choice to stand out from the crowd. 

Keep It Simple, Stupid

Welcome back to #ArtThursday! I’m glad you could make it. This week we’re getting into the nuts and bolts of the studio and talking about materials. You’ve all heard the saying a bad workman blames his materials, which is true to some extent, but mostly you get what you paid for.

When it comes to walls, murals and aerosol art, Sauce prefers to use good quality paint which will last the test of time. Which is why he prefers MTN. MTN have a great colour range and, with the Alien cans he can create some great translucent effects. Sauce has also used Montana Gold and Black and Australian made Signets. With paint, it is a matter of quality, especially when you are working with clients and painting on exterior surfaces. In the past, Sauce has experienced some supply issues as aerosols are classed as dangerous materials. This means they need to be shipped and freighted via rail or road, and all of that can lead to supply shortages at retail outlets, even if you order well in advance.

Sauce in the studio with his latest batch of supplies.

As for sketching, drawing and Blackbooks, Sauce prefers to keep it simple and low key. His Blackbooks are A4 or A5 and his latest batch came from the local office supply store. A4 is for Blackbook sketches and smaller commissions while the A5 is for large scale walls or logo designs. In the sketch books, he uses a myriad of pens and pencils and has no real brand preference. Again, this is where as an artist, he likes to keep it low key. Most designs are done in pencil with very limited use of colour. The lack of colour is usually done to save time for the client and it can be challenging to colour match pens with aerosol paints. 

Sauce’s drawing desk. Here, it’s full of reference pictures, pens, rulers and other stationary. 

No big secrets or surprises here. Just good old fashioned paint.

NB This is not a sponsored post.