A Last Minute Request

Almost, immediately, I came to a dilemma: should I remove the fabric from the frame or keep it installed. That was compounded on the fact that I didn't even know if nylon will hold paint. If so, which paint can I use. 

I decided to use white spray paint (Ironlak brand) to apply a base coat. If any paint is going to stick it'll be helped by the spray paint. This allowed me to apply a background. 

The rest of the process was pretty straightforward. At least, it would have been if the Posca markers worked as intended. (Is it me or did Poscas become cheaper?) The nibs would prematurely dry and start to smudge and streak. The yellow absorbed everything around it. So I backtrack and redo it with acrylic. 

After drawing guidelines for the lettering, the details were intuitive. I enjoyed this part the most. Blending the colors and finding the right angle to paint such an awkward shape was stimulating, challenging, and still a learning experience. 

Final Thoughts

This was an extraordinarily rewarding experience. There were a lot of novel challenges. The material, the shape, and of course the time restriction. I've never been crunched to produce art. professionally, in such a short amount of time. Honestly, I enjoyed the pressure, and now I know I'm capable of floating through similar handicaps. All in all, I hope it's not the last umbrella I paint.

Duan Rivera is a fellow artist, also, coming out of Western, Massachusetts. He is a founding member of Sigma Three Media and STRT LVL MMA based out of Springfield, Massachusetts. You can find his works across social media platforms.