How do they do that - Lasalle Bank Murals in Chicago

October 16, 2006 10:36 PM

ChicagoFilter: What's the deal with the Lasalle Bank Building off of the Kennedy?

I've lived in Chicago for a year and a half - near North and Ashland. Any time I exit the inbound Kennedy onto North Avenue, I pass the Lasalle Bank Building. You know, the one with the murals etc. The funny thing is, I go through there at all hours of the night and day. And I never see anyone painting or drawing or anything...

When do they do this? How do they get the images on the building without them being distorted? Do they use some sort of a projector? Does anyone know someone that's worked on the paintings befere? Tell me all you know!!

posted by youngergirl44 to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

not an answer but here is an archive of some of their previous murals. needs updated.
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 11:05 PM on October 16, 2006

Best answer: Here is a brief bit on how they do it, but not so much on the when.
posted by FlamingBore at 11:23 PM on October 16, 2006

I was curious about that too but generally when an artist scales a large mural from a smaller sketch they use a scaleable grid to draw a "cartoon" on the wall. Then they basically fill in the "cartoon" like a coloring book to match the original sketch.
posted by JJ86 at 5:56 AM on October 17, 2006

I don't know if you just miss it or what, but I definitely used to see them occasionally working on it. I remember a few instances of driving to work when I lived in Chicago and seeing it half-finished, mostly just before the Marathon.
posted by atomly at 8:53 AM on October 17, 2006

Response by poster: To create the mural design on the building walls, painters follow a pattern or outline of the artwork, which is created and transferred to the walls. More than 8,000 square feet of craft paper is used to trace the patterns and 15 pounds of charcoal dust are used to transfer the pattern onto the building's façade.

That's from FlaminBore's link - and answers the how... But what about the when? Maybe it's during the weekdays when I'm at work.

Anyone?
posted by youngergirl44 at 8:59 AM on October 17, 2006

Best answer: Yep, they definitely work on it during standard work hours. I have kind of a late start to work (9 a.m.) so there have been several times I have driven past the mural around 8:30 in the morning and seen guys working on it.

That archive is awesome! I was so bummed that I didn't get a photo of their winter 2005 mural before they scraped it off.
posted by Sully6 at 12:49 PM on October 17, 2006