Day 2 painting Willie

Finally getting this posted late New Years Eve - So HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone. This is going to be a picture heavy post. All about Willie. Tomorrow I'll write about what else was going on the last couple of days. Think ouchie and weather.
Friday morning bright and early 7:30 Gilberto the artist was here. All of his equipment in his back pack. Here he is working on the flames [I wanted flames - I have always wanted flames on a car] He has made some templets that he uses. 

 Mostly he does all his work freehand. Bill has always wanted a big American flag on something. 

Some of Gilberto's templets. He is very well know in Mexico for his distinctive style with the flames. We've seen a lot of his work on other vehicles, and know immediately it is his. 

 The day was very overcast and quite humid. But the paint he uses dries quickly. 

 Bill wanted the flag and an eagle, I wanted flames ...

 Changing paints on his air brush. In case I didn't mention it he is doing it in the campground. No fancy paint booth. 

 Cleaning out his air brush with a needle. 

 Bill wanted the flag to look ghostly in the background so here Gilberto is covering the entire flag with a very fine mist of white paint. 

Working on incorporating the skulls into the flames. I like the skulls. The not so quiet and shy part of my personality. Bill explains them as "It shows the Jeep goes so fast the flames are coming from the engines and the skulls are eating the flames." And no we haven't been drinking! 

 He is now designing the eagle. He has laid a big piece of sticky paper on the hood and is drawing the bird freehand.  

 He has a picture of it on his tablet. 

 The drawing is finished. Then he cut certain parts of it out Like using a stencil. 

 Here he has cut out the head and claws. Giving them their first coat of paint.  You can see some of the detail of the wings. 

 Now he has cut out the body and wings.

 The base coat of the bird. 

Working on the details of the wings.  

 Working on the claws.

 Notice the detail of the claws and the head. 

Painting is done.  Now it was time to take the jeep to an indoor shop for the clear coats to be put on it. So in we jumped and went downtown to the shop. It was about 4:30 when he finished the mural. 

Getting ready for the clear coats - 3 of them. We left and walked a little further towards town and had super in a Salads and Soup restaurant. 

On the way back to the shop I tripped again. I swear just clumsy no booze involved. We brought Willie home and Bill pulled him up on the patio to be under the awning to keep the dew off for the night. I took this picture in the morning. 

 No sooner had he backed it off the patio and out into the parking area IT STARTED TO RAIN - WHAT THE HECK!

 So here he is in all his glory. No message in the mural except maybe we are a little weird.  The strips on either side tie it into the graphics on the car. I never noticed them until I saw this picture!

It continued to rain off and on all day - at least he was done painting and the clear coat was dry. And so we begin a New Year.