Christmas Lane Elvis

Christmas Lane opens on the first Saturday of December and every year the residents of R Street decorate their lawns for the holidays. Every time we visit Christmas Lane, I think to myself, man, I've got to get a my work on one of these lawns. This year, I was granted that chance!

I was asked if I could take the silhouettes of Elvis (meant to be painted black) and make them look like the real guy. I didn't even give myself the chance to really think about what I had to do, I just thought about how much fun it would be and immediately said, "Yes! I can do it!"

I get the large wood cutouts, prime them, then proceeded to stress out. How in the world am I going to make them look like Elvis? I consider myself not really good at realism, and even a couple of my friends shared my concerns. What did I get myself into?

So, I sucked it up and dove headfirst into all things Elvis. I painted for hours on end, and here's the result:

I was so pleased with the end result! And relieved! I think after the client picked the up I spent the entire next day in my pajamas, not doing a thing. Elvis is exhausting!

Here's are some blurry, cellphone photos of some of the progress:

Hurrah for overcoming challenges!