Every year I head to a little beach town in Baja where I surf and paint. Basically the same thing I do in Hawaii year around but in Mexico there is a little more adventure to it. This week I want to share the Baja Fish Mural covering my friends new home.

The House we painted in San Juanico, Baja California

First we came up with the idea of doing a fish school around the house. The concept I had was to paint something that wasn't to overbearing. With a outside home piece I think that blending into the surrounding and flows with the environment is a sure way to paint something that adds to the House not distracts it.

Here I did a basic sketch of the idea I had in mind

The owner sent me pictures of the house being built and the walls which could be painted. I did a little mock up of the concept and knew that this was going to come out really amazing, as long as I could make the fish cool looking. At this point i had mostly done line drawing fish so this new piece was going to have a few challenges.

My trip was only a month, which seemed like plenty of time to paint the house. But of course it’s Mexico, so nothing seems to be done on time. That’s part of the draw I guess. After 2 weeks of Pacifico’s and Nose rides it was time to get to work and give it a go.

At the local cantina I was offered a wall next to the restaurant. Being in the fish mood with lots of fish tacos I decided a Big Fish would be pretty appropriate. Also because I wanted some practice painting a fish before I set out to paint someones beautiful new home. Luckily the Pescado Grande came out really well and got me inspired to get up to the house to paint now that the house was ready to go.

Mapping out the fish wend pretty quick, about 4 house in the desert heat, 15 min from the nearest town. The House was out there. Working the mural around the house and creating a smooth flow for the viewer was important. Spacing of the fish, size, and direction helped make the mural embrace it’s environment.

Doing the outlines and faces on all the fish.

At this point of the trip all my buddies had come into town and we utilized the many hands make light work. Having 10 extra hands really helped all 150 fish not take a lifetime. As my buddies filled in the fish colors and scales I painted their eyes and gave them some expression with their smiles. I think the reason the fish look so happy is because of the beers we were enjoying while working on the mural.

The Mural came out great in the end and we were so stoked to get it done in time. The project ended up being a big bigger than I had originally planned but it came out so cool and I was so stoked help give this Baja home some character.