LSD Magazine Issue 8 - Walls of Perception

well, and then my next few pieces were done using even shittier cans that were runny and very far from high quality, but they did actually blend much more smoothly so I was able to get much more subtle fades and work the details finer. Then, when the transparents came out, I bought a load straight away, even though I didn’t know what the hell to do with them, and it wasn’t until a year later when I saw this young guy doing a sort of brown / orange piece that I realised that he’d been Did you have technical breakthroughs along the way that suddenly took the photo realism using transparent white and transparent black to create the 3 D transparent colour next level and the penny firmly dropped. That was a There’s always steps that I take and little little breakthrough, but now I’m trying to get breakthroughs that kick in every couple of away from the transparents because they do weeks or so, even if that’s something as take a lot of the pop and a lot of the colour simple as learning to control a can better. out of a piece, leaving it with this silvery My first couple of photo realism pieces were quality. I had a breakthrough just today when actually pretty alright, and I think that it came I found a nozzle that works really well with to me more naturally if not easier than letters the Montana Black cans, so the whole second or anything else. When I started, I was using half of my day was much easier, so they do brands of paint that aren’t really suited to keep coming. It’s a constant evolution and an photo realism, paints that don’t blend that ongoing learning cycle. a mural. But that aside, I do always try and bring something of my own to the piece – I don’t like just copying a photo to perfection – because that reproduced perfection can look a bit stale sometimes, so it’s important to put a bit of flavor in there. I find that the more I paint the less I depend on the reference material.