Upon finishing the Four Queens on Fremont Street, we banged over to The Encore for a six hour live painting session at Surrender. We began at 10PM and painted until 4AM. Rocking out from our private cabana, it was VIP Vegas, and it was spectacular.

A sweet snap by Bryan Schnitzer who was capturing the evening…

Ari Lankin and yours truly… working it poolside.

Paul Zepeda getting started… this set-up was right in Paul’s artistic wheelhouse. That exists, by the way, an artistic wheelhouse.

I was all about painting from a dark ground on this trip, so I gesso’d the surface black with my bear hands (I put them on sometimes).

The base collage with the first round of colors added. It was all about the energy of what was happening all around me, Porter Robinson’s beats… table-top dancing, models, etc.

Whenever I take two photos, I try to do one where I look what they would call, “hard”, and another where I smile. This was an attempt at the former.

Flash it out…

Ari heavy into his painting.

Paul getting things fired-up on the ol’ easel.

The atmosphere shot… red is the color of the day.

A goalie and an artist walk into Surrender…

The boys from Philly, sharing late night Vegas stories I shan’t repeat, for according to Guy Code Section 24-1, Sub-paragraph XII: “…all conversations in and around Las Vegas pertaining to activities transpiring in same realm shall be considered vaulted immediately, and may only be re-addressed in a safe haven bar and/or lounge in the presence of solely the same company, and/or previously fist-bump approved company.”

Look up, it’s Encore.

My poolside cabana collage painting. Thank you Surrender Team and thank you Sheila for the hook-up. Also, it is important to note, I created this collage based on elements I pre-trimmed prior to my visit. The inclusion of Mr. Wynn and various Vegas properties reflect choices made solely by yours truly, and were not approved (in advance, during, after or otherwise) by anyone on the Surrender team.

The collage I created in 45 minutes at Planet Hollywood which was auctioned to benefit Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS to Carson Kressley.

And my Four Queens Process…

Welcome to Vegas — the first painting done on our nine-day trip… next year, we’ll see how the Welcome Sign hits my canvas.