To Inkfinity...
and just beyond the DAP
Inkfinity Printing Mural
Earlier this week I finished up a new mural for a screen printing shop located in Durham NC, just next door to the Historic Durham Athletic Park, aka the DAP (yes, the same one of Bull Durham fame). The client, Inkfinity Printing, wanted a screen print themed tattoo flash sheet for their shop’s back door. This was a really fun one despite the rain and humidity of June in North Carolina!
Surface Prep & Chalk Lines
Usually on the first day of a mural install, I have to spend some time on surface prep. This could be as easy as wiping down the wall or could be more involved with knocking down spider webs, pressure washing, removing old paint, etc. Thankfully, this job did not require much surface prep at all! The garage door was relatively clean, painted black, and just needed a gentle sponge bath. Only a few spiders had to flee for their lives.
The next step is to actually draw out the design. I like using basic sidewalk or blackboard chalk to get my lines down. Before I ever start working on site, I always make a to-scale mock up of the design on the intended surface - this helps me use the existing structure to lay out each section. The garage door has horizontal panels, so I used those to help guide me as I laid out each element.
At the end of the first work day, I had managed to get some paint down as a first coat. By the afternoon it had gotten over 85 degrees and the humidity was near 100% - the paint was drying on my brush and the sweat was stinging my eyes. Way more progress could’ve been made that first day if I started at sunrise instead of sleeping in…
…So I learned my lesson and arrived on site the next day at sunrise and was already painting by 6am. 9 hours later, I had managed to wash off all the chalk residue and get everything about where I wanted it except for their logo in the bottom right corner and some extra details I wanted to add. It was a bummer to not finish this day, as rain was expected for the next week or more, but those extra couple hours of sleep the day before were prettyyy sweeet…
A week later, the rain finally let up and I was able to come back to finish! On the last day I completed the logo, added some final touches and touch-ups to make sure every line was crispy clean, took a break to eat a nectarine and let the paint dry, then did a final wash down with my giant sponge to get any dirt or debris off the surface before sealing it all in. After applying the sealant, the final step is of course to take a ton of photos, kiss the wall goodbye, and drive off into the sunset hoping your newborn baby will be safe and happy for years to come!
After getting home and unpacking, washing out my brushes, labeling and storing the extra paint, taking a shower, and icing my wrist, I sat down to edit together the silly little video clips I forced myself to take to make a reel to offer as tribute to the Instagram Algorithm Gods:
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