Maverick Mural

I told my son we were going to redo his room, since he's a big boy now and kinda grown out of the Blue's Clue's theme he had in there before. Also going to put in a new laminate floor, because carpet is a completely retarded thing to have in a boy's room. It stains easy and besides, you can't roll your cars and trucks on it and it makes a terrible foundation for block structures.

So he said he wanted me to paint Hot Wheels stuff on the wall. I said OK, without even questioning whether I had the skill to do that. I figured he's four years old, so he shouldn't be a very harsh judge. As long as it doesn't resemble a tree with wheels it should be ok. So we talked about it and agreed there should be a Hot Wheels logo on one wall and a big car on another. I decided to use Hot Wheels card art as inspiration, so I went out and bought a bunch of cars and we looked through them and talked about which one to paint. I showed him a Javelin AMX, Chevelle, Challenger, T-bucket, gasser, several different cars. But what he really wanted was a Maverick. I asked whether he was completely sure about that, thinking nobody's gonna believe the Maverick was his idea. He said, "Yep! 'cause I love your car!" So I let him think on that for a day just to be sure and then I got started.

Now, I've never done anything like this in my life. I used to draw, but two really terrible art teachers in high school managed to completely extinguish whatever little spark there was that drove me to do that sort of thing. I haven't drawn or painted anything in nearly 15 years and even before that I never did anything large scale, but this project came out better than I could have hoped. Way beyond my expectations. God must have known this was a labor of love and guided my hand, because I sure wouldn't have thought I could do this. For the most part I'm extremely happy about it. I greatly enjoyed doing it, my son completely loves it, is utterly thrilled, and that's what matters. But a small part of me can't help being sad and maybe a little bitter about it, like I've been wasting a gift for half my life. It's really my fault. I've been too scared to try and draw or paint anything because I didn't want to confirm that I could no longer do it. Well, not anymore. Anybody need a mural done?







...I wasn't going for an exact duplicate of the card art. Just inspiration and guidance. I couldn't let that '73 bumper remain on a car that was supposed to be a '71 for instance, and we wanted the color to be closer to green. Really it should have turned out greener than it did, but I'm a little bit color blind. Also I could have added more details, but I had to stop myself and remember that this isn't based on a car so much as it's based on a toy. I may still go back and add emblems, mirrors, etc. though, because I can't wait to get a brush in my hand again.

 

Amazing!! Its a mystery to me how some people can do things like that.

 

Man that's awesome!

 

Totally awesome!!!

 

Nice work. Really got the 3d effect, looks like its coming out of the wall.

 

Very Nice!! I was following it on Facebook yesterday!

 

way to go, i like it!

 

Well, apparently it can also be a mystery to the people who do them!

Thanks!

Thanks, here's the Facebook link if anyone else wants to see it there. Will be adding more pics later:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2111656&id=1323294578&l=a4fa987d5b

 

Really Nice!!!

 

That is awsome. Looks like the color of my car. Good choice.

 

Love it! He's a lucky boy!

 

Very nice, love the work you done to get it.

 

Wow! That is realy cool. Now I want cars on the wall at my house. (That's a fight I don't think I'd win)

 

Just ordered a wall-mounted display case for him, holds 65 1:64 diecasts, so he should have room to display most of his Hot Wheels cars. Of course he's more into playing with them, but this gives him a way to keep them in one place. And who knows, it may help him learn to take care of his things. Guess I also need to build him a shelf for his 1:24's. He actually is pretty careful with those, 'cause I told him I wouldn't keep buying them if he kept breaking them. So to my surprise he started treating them with respect and I had to hold up my end of the deal and get him some more...

 

That's really great and you get to do things with your son that brings you closer together. Congratulations.