It's about time Phoenix sees some serious mural love. In the interest of giving credit to their artists and because we're losing track of the times we've said, "Woah, when did that go up?", we bring you Mural City, a series on the murals springing up around town -- their artists, their hosts, and their inspirations.
See also: Jackalope Ranch's street art series, Mural City. See also: Tag, You're Art: Local Street Artists Are Tagging Over Murals and Calling It Art See also: Should Artists Paint Murals for Free?
The artist: Alan Rogerson
Location: Artistic Tattoo
Although Rogerson says he pays the bills working in custom jewelry, but when business slows down, he's proved can get down on some large-scale canvas.
For the murals he painted all over the Artistic Tattoo building in Phoenix, Rogerson says he drew inspiration from his own tattoos as well as from designs he found while pouring over nearly 100 different tattoo magazines.
For the mural, Rogerson transformed two large windows on the front of the shop into in-set, barred eyes. While looking at the wall he says he was inspired to paint a skull, and even went through the trouble of shortening the windows to make his vision come true.
His favorite part of the design? The Japanese scene painted on one of the west-facing walls.
He says the painting took him months to complete -- and he's still not done. For now he's put down his paint brushes to focus on a tattoo but plans to do more work at Artistic in the future.
"Yes, they paid me," Rogerson answered when we asked about the topic of our Questionable Content post from earlier this week. "It wasn't a lot but it helped me keep at least one nostril above water," he added with a laugh.
"I'm actually very gratified that I'm still making a living as an artist. That's very gratifying."
He estimates the murals cover about 60 feet of wall and are about nine to ten feet tall. Rogerson also painted signs and did 3D art for Antiques on Camelback located across the street from Artistic. You can see more of his work on the Superior Tattoo Supply building located at 7th Ave. and the US 60.
