In late February, I got a chance to do something crazy, something a lot of painters might have called damn near impossible. I was asked to paint the DJ of a club. On the dance floor. While he DJ’ed. Craziness! First of all, clubs are so dark that the idea of seeing what you’re painting is almost hilarious, and second of all, there are drunk people dancing/groping/falling, well, everywhere. So of course I had to take the job. I live for madness!

It was the DJ’s birthday ( his name is Andre Perry and you should check out his soundcloud). My painting was his birthday gift from his super amazing wife. So instead of describing the scene I was asked to paint, let me just show you:

Here is DJ Andre, DJ’ing on a grand piano covered in signatures, with the most wonderful and dramatic dripping candelabras of real burning candles, and everything was drenched in a vampiric red light. I thrilled at the sight. However, I was not super happy about the DARK. It was sooooo dark, I could barely see to set up my easel.

I started with a grey background, and immediately set to work. Well….. okay I stopped to pose with my sister, Ella, and her husband Mark, and Jessica, the super amazing wife of DJ Andre.

Here’s what my light looked like, I had to hold it in one hand and paint with the other hand, all while being bumped and prodded by increasingly drunk club-goers. It was actually pretty hilarious. Also, it was so fun to dance to club music while painting, it’s a lot like the stuff I listen to in my studio to get me pumped!

Now you can see progress, I painted for around two hours:

Finished!

Andre loved it! And I have to say, I really felt like I nailed this painting so hard, especially considering the darkness and the crowd. I was so pumped! He put the painting up on stage with him when it dried, even!

All in all, a great night, and a perfect challenge for me in this crazy job I have made up for myself. I couldn’t be happier 🙂