Bañuelos '17 Brings Aggieland Sunset To Austin

Biology major Luis Bañuelos '17 shared on his Instagram and Twitter accounts two ephemeral artworks he created using spray paint and skill that bring some Aggie spirit to an outdoor art park in Austin.

His painting of a sunset view across the Haynes Ring Plaza took eight hours, he said, and an earlier painting of the Century Tree took about four hours. "After I painted the tree, I was quite surprised with how well it turned out," Bañuelos said. "I had only used spray paint one other time before that. I didn't think I was capable of something that nice."

The paintings may not last for long: Artists can register to paint on the concrete walls of the HOPE Outdoor Gallery, a "community paint park" in downtown Austin at 11th and Baylor streets, and the murals are always changing. 

More than 20 cans of spray paint went into Bañuelos' 18-foot by 10-foot vista of the Haynes Ring Replica and Kyle Field outside The Association of Former Students' building, the Clayton W. Williams, Jr., Alumni Center. He went around campus on Monday taking photos for inspiration.

“Wednesday, I made a pen drawing of the image, and Thursday was the day to paint! I printed the picture and then scaled it off into a grid… I drew most of the outlines and then began to fill in with the color. After all of the background had the right colors, it was just time to bring out the detail in the painting,” he said.

“Spray paint is pretty new to me as an art form, so I keep surprising myself with the outcome!”