Standing on Nicollet Island in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a legend. Built in 1941, the Grain Belt Beer Sign has been through a great deal… moving, going dark, being sold, vandalized, trivialized, lionized — and even more words with ized’ attached.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x15qi71_grain-belt-sign-painting-by-borbay_creation

For all these reasons and more (loving Grain Belt Beer), I decided to paint it. Here, you can see the entire painting process in a video (bonus, we’ve spotted Waldo), with a soundtrack courtesy of World-Traveling musician Jacob Cohen.

I saw Jacob jammin’ at the Bedford Stop in Brooklyn, so I tossed my card in his case and that was that. OK, on to the process.

Credit for the idea to paint this majestic slice of typography goes to my Mother-in-Law Jeanne… A good idea is just that, so Tom and me set out to take some photos. This, of course, is the one I went with.

Thought about this one… but the bridge elements added another dimension to the composition.

On our way back to the studio, Tom spotted this sage piece of advice. One can only wonder… did the scribe jump? Or did he walk back to the car he/she borrowed from their Mom and drive to Crossroads for a sandwich? The mysteries of life.

Kicking things off with the basic shapes… creating the form immediately. Red and orange — always the soup du jour in my kitchen.

I went dark swiftly, and don’t often use green for an under painting… but this picture called for a different approach. Plus, the Minnesota Wild are red and green…

Get the type set… throw in a beam. Now, it’s go time.

Important to identify where the light is going… which part of the day resides on which part of the composition. Beginning with an electric blue is a must.

Day man. Master of the night man. Champion of the sun. Karate. Friendship. Everyone.

That moss green gradient was calling me… decided to make him a permanent resident. There had to be balance between the busy and the staid.

The highlights on the cap and greens in the trees began to foster balance. Or, at least, add trees and highlights.

Had to get all up in there and paint some metal girders.

Details forming, beams shooting everywhere — I put them where they make sense.

I like to think of the light shooting out of that building as howling. A howling light.

It’s like a pitcher waiting until the 7th inning to throw his best pitch… that’s what it feels like to wait to add the details of the focus point… the cap.

The sign hasn’t been lit up in ages, but I wanted to capture some of the old time feeling with the neon lights shimmering in a partial night sky.

What natural sun light can do to a painting at the right angle.

My Father-in-Law Tom Hessel working on his first painting in 35 years.

Tom, painting Tom.

So many happy trees, Bob Ross woke me up from a nap to give me a high five.

The energy of the Minnetonka studio…

And… fin. Grain Belt Beer… The Sign… Painting. Completed. Had a blast painting in Tom’s brand new studio… and am enjoying our trip to the Sotes. Congratulations to Kelsey and Jason on their new house… non-sequitur, I know.