THE ARTFUL DRAGONFLY is looking for new opportunities and projects

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING NEW?

SOMETHING UNIQUE WITH ITS OWN SPIN?

DECORATIVE, FINE FINISH or MURAL?

AFTER A LONG BREAK AND DEALING WITH THE PANDEMIC, SEEMS THINGS HAVE LEAD WAY TO BE CLEARED AND NEW IDEAS TO FLOW THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY.

HOMES AND BUSINESSES WHAT THE FEELING OF RENEWED ENERGY. A FRESH START.

THATS WHERE I COME IN.

MICHIGAN ARTIST RE LOCATED BACK FROM PORTLAND and ASHEVILLE

I CAN CREATE OR RE CREATE ALMOST ANY IDEA OR THEME FROM START TO FINISH WITH A BUDGET THAT IS FAIR AND AFFORDABLE. 

CONTACT ME AND SEE WHAT NEW IDEAS AND POSSIBILITIES VISUALLY AWAIT.

To view projects past and present, scroll down to find the arrow > if using your mobile phone to view this.

Contact:

Andrew Rossi

503 984 3374

in Grand Rapids Mich.

to schedule a visit or appt.

BOAT STYLE!! / LETTERING IN NEW BUFFALO MI

I WAS INVITED OUT TO THE BEAUTIFUL MARINA IN NEW BUFFALO JUST SOUTH OF BENTON HARBOR TO CHECK OUT SOME BOATS THAT NEEDED SOME LETTERS.

ITS ALWAYS A CHALLENGE TO GET THE LINES TO APPEAR STRAIGHT WORKING WITH THE BODY OF THE SHIPS CONTOURS.

I HAD TO STRIP THIS ONE COMPLETELY OF ITS OLD GRAPHICS AND START FRESH.

ADDED A LITTLE SHADOW TOO.

NEW MURALS GRAND HAVEN!!

NEW ELECTRIC HERO MURAL DESIGN

SINCE BEING BACK IN GRAND RAPIDS AFTER NEARLY TWO DECADES, I MADE THE CHOICE ONCE AGAIN TO SEEK OUT THOSE WHO WANT SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT.

I MET WITH NICK THE OWNER OF ELECTRIC HERO SANDWICH SHOP IN GRAND HAVEN MI.

HE SHOWED ME A BACK WALL PATIO AREA ROUGHLY 200 SQ FT. WHERE AN EXTENDED

KITCHEN AND DELIVERY AREA WAS GOING ON THE INSIDE.

I PROPOSED TO HIM THE IDEA OF A ROCK (ELECTRIC HEROES) ICONIC STYLE PSYCHEDELIC MURAL WITH THE IDEA I ALWAYS WANTED TO PAINT DAVID BOWIE AND MARC BOLAN (T REX) SOMEWHERE.

I GAVE HIM A ROUGH IDEA AND WITHOUT HAVING TO PRODUCE ANY MORE SAMPLES, IDEAS, ROUGHS, HE TURNED ME LOOSE.

I CARVED OUT 4 AREAS WHERE THE PORTRAITS WOULD BE NEXT TO EACH OTHER BUT HAD NO IDEA I WAS PAINTING THEM INTO SOME DREAM LIKE PRIMORDIAL OOZE WHICH AT FIRST I THOUGHT WOULD BE WATER OR A LAKE. LAKE MICHIGAN WAS ONLY A FEW BLOCKS AWAY TO THE BOARDWALK AND I NEEDED AN ELEMENT THAT WAS NATIVE TO THE AREA THAT WOULD TIE IT ALL TOGETHER. WATER.

I USED STRAIGHT EDGES AND PAINT PENS TO REPLICATE THE THIN LINE GRAPHIC

ART PRECISION OF THOSE 60S POSTERS INSPIRED BY PETER MAX.

I ADDED MY OWN VISION COMPLETE WITH CEPHALOPODS AND ELECTRIC SUNSETS

I CALLED IT BALLROOMS OF MARS AFTER A T REX SONG WHERE HE SPEAKS ABOUT SEEING JOHN LENNON. SPOOKY.

IT TOOK ME LESS THAN 5 WHOLE DAYS TO PAINT AND ILLUSTRATE.

North Carolina Stagecoach Mural

When your in the South and a Mural painter, chances are pretty good you'll get asked to paint something "Old Timey" historical or "Southern" I was asked just that from a nice guy named Wes up in Boone NC. (Sugar Grove) to be specific. It was up in the mountains a few hours north of Asheville and it was purty! The views were amazing! You can also see some of the mountains of Virginia!
I spent close to a week from image consulting to final details on day 8. This whole thing was painted using 3 coats of block and primer over untreated Masonry! After a few uneven days of dodging bursts of torrential rain showers and an occasional storm,
The process went really well and fairly quick.
I used the existing mortar lines and shadowed above and below the line to give a bit of dimension to the wood background. I used glazes mixed with paint and lightened up
the hues of raw, burnt umber and sienna's. Spread it on quickly with foam rollers carving out my shapes and darker lines.
The challenge of this particular idea was that he wanted to see it not exactly a flat design but rather a large painted to scale 8' high coach next to the wooded wall.
There had to be some shading and dimension thrown in with out it looking too small or foreshortened so this was the best look i came up with and he said i nailed it.
An old Well Fargo style coach sits next to his wooden shed which is actually a modern cement garage. Pretty nice.

the Artful Dragonfly : Andrew "Illustration and a Beer" interview podcast at Zapow!

Andrew explains painting large and old school techniques


Andrew of the Artful Dragonfly landed in Asheville from the West Coast only a year ago. He talks with Greg Vineyard about his Art, Illustration, Sign Lettering technique and painting murals in homes and businesses. They also talk about the uniqueness of Asheville, Beer and coming from one exploding creative town to another and how they relate..or not! Andrew arrived from Portland Oregon USA. home of twentysomethings, DIY culture, Portlandia and Indie Rock. For years Andrew spent his time in his craft of painting higher end decorative finishes, faux backdrops, signage for storefronts that were popping up everywhere and making cool artwork for his band the Pink Snowflakes. He now is in Asheville and finds similarities and some opportunities to do something unique. Andrew is a professional hand painter, skilled craftsman and DIY spirited illustrative artist. If you live in Asheville, you should check out his amazing surrealism and playful paintings! The whole podcast will be up onthe Zapow website. Go to: http://zapow.tv

the title will be "Illustration and a Beer" - Pink Snowflakes
Hope you check it out!

My all new haunted HALLOWEEN 3d panel art IS COMPLETE!!

I'm really excited about this. An all new medium, new coloring rules, crazy imagery 
going into a maze of blackened out panels under blacklights built inside a large barn complex for halloween! Who wouldn't want to try it!
I'm working with Hendersonville haunted farms to bring them a scary insane
3 D world of Circus themed clowns and ghouls!  
HERE ARE SOME PICS FROM THE BLOCKING IN PROCESS. 
YOU HAVE GIANT B/W GRAPHICS LIKE A COLORING BOOK. THE BLACK LIGHTS ARE SUPER POWERFUL LED STRIPS.
THE WHITE BLOCK OUT PAINT UNDER UV LIGHT LOOKS PURPLE SO YOU ADD THAT INTO YOUR PALATE. WHITE PAINT UNDER NORMAL LIGHT WHICH IS USED TO HIGHLIGHT GOES DARK AND RECEDES BACK.

IT TOOK A WHILE, MOST OF SEPTEMBER BUT I AM NOW FINISHED! JUST IN TIME FOR THEIR EXHIBIT TO OPEN. IT RUNS ALL THROUGH THE MONTH OF OCTOBER INTO THE FIRST WEEK OF NOVEMBER! THEY ARE PLEASED WITH THE RESULTS!

IT LOOKS REALLY COOL AND COMIC BOOK-ISH..I HAD A LOT OF FUN FIGURING OUT WHAT WOULD LOOK BEST AND HOW TO SHADOW AND SHADE WITH USING DAYGLO PHOSPHORESCENT PAINT UNDER UV BLACK LIGHT!

YOU WEAR 3D CHROMADEPTH GLASSES AND WALK THROUGH THE HALLS INTO THE BIG ROOM. I HAD A LOT OF PANELS TO PAINT AND I FIRST WATCHED A FEW TUTORIALS ONLINE TO GET THE IDEA OF IT ALL. I DIDN'T HOWEVER, USE A PROJECTOR OR PHOTOSHOP MY IMAGES INTO COLOR SEPARATIONS. I LITERALLY GOT MY IMAGE AND BLOCKED IT IN USING WHITE PAINT AND FOAM ROLLERS. THEN I DID THE BLACK OUTLINE AND ADDED COLOR (SEVERAL COATS) THEN REOUTLINED AND SHADOWED ONCE MORE. I USED A BOLD CARTOONY OUTLINE AS IF IT WAS A GIANT COLORING BOOK I WAS PAINTING. THE WHITE BLOCK OUT PAINT UNDER UV LIGHT LOOKS PURPLE SO YOU ADD THAT INTO YOUR PALATE. WHITE PAINT UNDER NORMAL LIGHT WHICH IS USED TO HIGHLIGHT GOES DARK AND RECEDES BACK.

Mural project for home recording studio in Arden

 A local rap artist producer who is starting his own home recording label and studio in Arden NC. contacted me to see what I could do with his boring basement studio space he invested in. He added a soundproofed vocal booth room and a mixing area with acoustic baffles to the plan.

I went with the idea of a jazz era Art Deco era design once again but with a modern gangsta 420 theme that seemed to mix well with his aesthetic. We wanted it to be classy and cool.

I first treated it as a faux finish but added large strokes of glazes over each other in geometric shapes and patterns.

Then I added the Deco looking border design and cut in the shapes of two women. The pot leaf sits right behind them like the sun rise or something like that.

I used a solid pigment burnt umber paint for my cartoonish outlines instead of black. There is no darker color than burnt umber in this design.

I also used the existing creme colors in the walls and added a few light differences.

I taped off a border just above the mural design where a faux marble or stone beam would go above and below. 

 I added a couple of columns to the sides and started to stain the vocal booth door and add my Deco bubble design to the vocal booth area.

I went to town on the girls hair and illustrating them in a simple design oriented way using a few colors and slight shadows etc.

I did the same thing opposing the mural wall with the vocal booth walls. I added a simple circular deco style design all around it to make it stand out and look interesting.

I drop shadowed in the beams and border and some of the girls features and added details here and there to places.

It was a cool project to do my own thinking and come up with a design that pleases the senses and not too completely
outrageous but just enough of my imagination for a classic looking music recording studio.
We also re did his entire garage, leather fauxed and showroom painted the floor as an entertainment room and backline area for his clients.
Tare Out Boy studio in Arden NC. is going to be a cool, funky full production home recording studio ready for business soon!