Pixel portraits in house paint, on cinder block, clapboard and the back of a skate ramp. I haven’t been up a ladder in a little while — but I plan to get back to it. These are the walls so far. Tap any piece to look closer.
You're awesomePixel mural on cinder block. Every square on the wall is one pixel of the original.
From pixels to paint
How a mural gets made, in three frames.
01 · The gridEvery mural starts small: a portrait reduced to a few dozen squares and a handful of greys.
02 · The wallEach square becomes a block on the wall, mixed by hand to match.
03 · For scaleUp close it is just squares. Step back across the street and a face arrives.
The walls
Each image loads pixelated and resolves — the way the murals work from across the street.
Portrait on clapboardPainted over peeling siding — the wall’s own texture left in.
Portrait in umberThe windows become part of the face.
Player oneEight-bit characters, one cinder block per pixel.
Half-pipe portraitOn the back wall of a skate ramp.
You’re awesome, from the alleyThe same wall from behind the fence line.
Night shifts
Work lights, half-finished walls, and a winter return visit.
Night shiftSome walls got painted after dark, under a work light.
HalfwayA portrait blocked in; the rest of the wall still white.
The same wall, in winterShot on film, after the snow.
Signing a canvasThe pixel style, brought indoors.
On the news
From the archive · KBYU
A reporter climbs the ladder, I explain the squares. A blast from the past about painting pixel portraits on the side of buildings — 85 seconds.
