Box Painting Complete! (For Now)

I spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted to paint the box of our new CETMA. With the gorgeous black and yellow color combo, the first thing that came to mind was a bee or yellow jacket and ideas poured forth from that starting point. I knew it would be nearly impossible to match the yellow of the frame exactly, so I picked out a pale yellow from the mistints at our local Guiry's for $2.

A photo taken in front of the beautiful Newman Center at the University of Denver.

Not bad, right? Then I got to thinking about a two-layered hexagonal pattern. I wanted a black honeycomb grid which I could overlay with reflective yellow hexagons. We found a stencil which would allow black hexagons to be applied easily, but that looked too much like tire tread. Painting black and then yellow again did not yield the desired results. So I threw out that idea and decided to go with a more street-art style involving spray paint and hand drawn bees.

First, I settled on a bee motif that I thought would scale nicely. Then I cut out around it so that I could use the teardrop shape as a mask for where I wanted the bees to go. I cut out a few that were the same size and shape.

Next, I applied the teardrops to the box where I wanted the bees to be. The mask would allow the bees to stand out against a pale yellow backdrop even if it interfered with the spray painted background I had planned. I also loosely masked the back of the box with a drop cloth.

I consulted with Forrest Brinker over at Making Things and Teaching about my design, and he pointed out that I should be mindful of how the interior of the box looks, as well as the outside. He use a crock pot to show me how a dark border at the top was appealing in appearance and framed the contents. This was great advice, but I wasn't sure how to deal with the sloped back of the box. So I decided to do what many pop artists do when they don't know how to finish something they've started: fade out. I would make the border very black at the front and fade it toward the back. I also decided to incorporate a zig-zag pattern evocative of a bee swarm.

This is what it looked like after peeling off the teardrop masks.

Next, the nerve wracking part: hand-drawing the bees. I practiced a little bit with my new Sharpie Magnum:

I drew the bees on the box, felt fairly pleased with myself, then applied the reflective hexagons in a way I hoped was evocative of honeycomb and complimentary to what I'd already done.

Now the box is back on the bike and riding around town! Do you like it?

At least one kiddo seems to like it.