The energy of Fremont street followed me to Idaho. While in Vegas, I created a smaller painting of the Atomic Liquors sign… but I wanted to dig deeper. Go larger. So I did, to the tune of three by five feet.
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You can jam out to the entire process in just over one minute. Do read-on for a blow-by-blow recap of this bad boy.
Began with an orange and red underpainting…. then went in, and dashed out the shadows. This stage has inspired an idea for future works..
There were lots of rich, deep, red-browns… I chose to mix them with heavy dose of pthalo blue green shade and cadmium red. I’m quick to bring in the hookers green in this type of situation, but for this piece? Hookers got a rest…
Until it was time to mix the sky gradient. Added some shadows for good measure. About time to splash some light.
Decided to bring the illumination with the Atomic star burst… followed by the LIQUOR neon… then the cursive liquors… there is a theme.
Next? Yes, time to make the COCKTAILS and bulbs glow… in, dare I say, atomic yellow?
Getting closer now… and I like this photo for a very important reason — photographing artwork is insanely difficult. Each shift in light brings with it new challenges…. colors feel darker, lighter, greener, bluer… that’s why art is best experienced in-person… and this, in our digital age, is the intrinsic value of an archaic, but wonderful form of creation.
Oh yes, adding those reds around COCKTAILS was huge… working at this size allowed me to explore the dings and scratches of the sign.
Popped those rocks, added more shadows, and painted that sweet, sweet orange on the curving arrow.
Damn close… wanted to get a shot outside to feel the tones. How about the OG Coors sign?
And boom! My large Atomic Liquors painting. I strongly recommend clicking on the image for a closer inspection… many details are unsung at 620 pixels. Here is the plein air version that sparked the big one…
The four days I spent painting this sexy slice of neon in real life was valuable… it’s something I intend to do more often.
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