Psychedelic Chameleon Mural
Hello everyone! I decided to post a full, step-by-step photo report from painting the Psychedelic Chameleon on Wiejska St., dedicated to the Year of Witkacy. For those, who never heard of Witkacy, he was an acclaimed Polish writer, painter, philosopher, theorist, playwright, novelist, and photographer active before WW1 and in the interwar period. He was known especially for his drug induced pastel drawings and oil paintings, which resembled the 1960s psychedelic artworks. I decided to create my own tribute, also inspired by hallucinogenic drugs (despite working on the concept completely sober and clean).
At first, I created a test version on canvas, 1,2x2 metres, 3,5 times smaller compared to the mural.
The painting took me 4 days to complete, so I estimated that it would take me about 12-14 days to complete the mural. Afterwards, I started working on the mural. It actually took me 10 days to finish it.
Day 1
At first, I created a foundation with acrylic paints, and then started adding the spots and details using promarkers, acrylics and spray paint.
Day 2
Day 3-5
I started adding song titles by famous bands from the 60's such as The Beatles, The Doors, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Procol Harum, the Eagles and so on.
Day 6
More details and hidden messages have been added to the chameleon. Working on the bottom part of the chameleon and the tail. Wings covered in glow-in-the-dark paint.
Day 7
More details added eith fluorescent paints to make the chameleon glow in the dark. Finally finished the tail.
Day 8
I started painting the background, after finishing the chameleon.
Day 9
The mural was almost complete, I needed one more day to finish all the small details. I also decided to add a fly, to create a reason why the chameleon has its tongue sticking out. As a result, the mural became a story of its own, which can be interpreted in many ways and on many levels.
Day 10
The mural has been FINALLY FINISHED!
Here's a HD video of the entire finished chameleon, along with all the fine details. ;) The entire mural has been varnished with satin varnish several times, to prevent it from decaying.
I hope you liked my photo report and get to see the real mural on 2 Wiejska St. in Warsaw! There were multiple other murals created within the facility by numerous talented artists, there is some street art outside the building as well to check out :)