It was back to Vegas… and this time, I decided to paint Insert Coins (which is so hot right now). It took three short sessions, one bloody finger and many adult beverages… but I got the job done.

Nothing beats the early morning calm of Las Vegas. It’s just me, a few drink-toting on-lookers and the sun.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1uaz6m_painting-of-insert-coins-in-las-vegas_creation

Here’s the entire process with beats courtesy of the maestro MH the Verb.

Pencil sketch on panel… on day one, the winds were hovering around 20mph…

Here was my glorious set-up.

A colorful wash, and a slight gradient in the sky… followed by some paint-pen drawing. Heavy outline work. Things blowing everywhere.

Eggplant blocks of color… this time I used a very light, portable aluminum easel. Without a tray, I had to use my pockets for storage… unfortunately, I placed my palette knife facing up…

And cut my finger. After my bro Dan and friend Jim came by, they strongly recommended I stop painting (I was bleeding profusely).

Here is the finger five hours and ten band-aids later. Fortunately, I didn’t need stitches… I did, however, take some grief on Twitter.

@borbay @InsertCoinsLV Suck it up, Van Gogh.

— George Fallar (@gfallar) May 7, 2014

Back at it, I went into the larger shapes, blocking out colors.

Throwing in the grey tones… creating some semblance of light. In plein air, the light shifts by the minute… making it difficult to capture a cohesive lighting narrative.

Getting into the fine details… just about there, all I needed was some punchy red and orange highlights.

Boom! If you go to Vegas, check out Insert Coins and Downtown Las Vegas… it’s an entirely different experience than the new Strip. Trust. Tell them Borbay sent you. And now… some of the trip.

I collaged this bad boy on the plane. True story.

Speaking of the plane, if you tip your flight attendant, good things will happen. This bag was placed on my lap at the end of the flight.

That’s a full mini-bar on the arm… and, lead to our new gratuity standard — ‘Tip Em’ With Tito’s”… want to see a valet’s eyes light up with glee? You guessed it. Tip Em’ With Tito’s.

Me and the bros… doing the Vegas group selfie thing.

Jim and his awesome Brother in Law Gene.

Downtown Fremont East.

We only hang out in front of the finest craft stores… Jim and JP. They are not related.

I don’t do strip clubs, but if you do, you might want to skip Glitter Gulch.

The gents taking in the sites.

Lots of finger action. 

Dan striking quite a silhouette in the El Cortez hotel.

Bet on everything.

Four Queens… day-to-night transition.

Dan at Wynn.

Tim and me.

Tim looking boss.

Delivering a painting to nightlife impresario Shecky Green.

A closer look at that Shecky painting. See you next time Vegas.