In what has been a three month wait, I am finally able to reveal my first mural for Outback Restaurants! Let's go on a journey of how this came to be.
As it stands, my current contract is with Outback Steakhouse East Coast for their Local Art program. Once I submitted my final image for an upcoming Outback restaurant opening, it was shared and eventually the buzz made its way to the Out West team, who wanted to see if I could create an image for their lobby wall at the Las Vegas Coke Bottle.
I couldn't just create something simple – this was Las Vegas! And I didn't want there to just be Australian animals in the mural, but also some that were native to Nevada. I had a few ideas for the Nevada animals, but eventually landed on the Blacktailed jackrabbit and the Desert Bighorn sheep. But how would these animals come to life in a scene such as Las Vegas?
The kangaroo became the hungry tourist, The Tasmanian devil made the perfect Elvis, the jackrabbit was well-suited for the magician, the sheep looks like he was ready to play some tables, the emu dressed in fancy feathers made a beautiful showgirl and the koala pointed the way to the fourth floor Outback restaurant. The Sphynx, Las Vegas sign and Eiffel Tower attractions completed the scene against a vibrant background.
The final image would be done in two phases – an actual smaller painting and a vectorized image of that painting to be blown up and transferred to the lobby wall. The painting took a total of over 160 hours to complete and required a lot of fine details.
If you find yourself in Las Vegas and happen to make your way to the Coke Bottle, please be sure to stop by, snap a pic and tag me!
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