Deeecent boys! Holy fuck, it’s Bubbles! Where’s Steve French? Is that a dirty fuckin’ samsquanch?
One of my all-time favorite shows, Trailer Park Boys, has been playing on loop for so long… I decided to paint a portrait of Bubbles. Mike Smith’s character was an on-set discovery, and has since become a beloved figure in the world of liquor and dope.
The source image was captured when I froze a frame from the movie “Don’t Legalize It“. Bubbs is holding a vile of clean piss… Julian’s hustle to make dough… the piss didn’t make the final canvas, parts unknown.
I decided to really explain myself in this process video — there is some swearing for those with virgin ears.
As always, it takes me some time to sift through books and piles of newspapers to source the appropriate collage material. Bubbles is interesting… he’s a lifelong petty criminal with the occasional foray into felonies thanks to his pals Ricky and Julian. However, he’s also the emotional center of the show… so I wanted to capture the nuances of the man here.
As always… a warm under-painting of orange in the background, and red for the hair. I also began to carve into the features… building the shadows first.
A few rounds of color and we are on our way boys.
I wasn’t sure what the final palette would look like, but I figured a cooler under-painting couldn’t hurt matters on the face.
The blue background was huge…
It was at this point the fuckin’ boys posted a progress update on Swearnet… deeecent!
With the entire range painted in blues and purples, I realized it was time to go warm or go the fuck home.
Just about rounding the corner… painting in the hair was important to balance out the composition.
This red was a big step boys… It was heavy and intense, but necessary. Painting Bubbles half-ass would have been an insult to the man… now all that was left was the shirt and glasses.
Boom! Bubbles… I had a blast painting this and I’m stoked with the results. The big question is this: who should I paint next? Ricky? Julian? Mr. Lahey? Lucy? What do you think?
Click on the image above for a closer look at Bubbs — and here are some other portraits you might dig. Thank you for the love, now let’s hit the fuckin’ LC boys!
Really Great poster of Bubbles! In fact all of your posters are great work. It was cool that you showed the steps of how you created the work. If these were on a Tshirt I’d wear it to be sure!
Thank you Nadja — I’ll keep you posted on any potential reproductions.
FANTASTIC. Very Bubbly Very New
luv the cat-eyes
luv the road-map shirt
the melted-hair
the melting-mouth
JASON genius 🙂
Cheers
CH 15.10.15 6:55AM SYDNEY
Appreciate the shout CH, cheers!