:Dr Dre Compton High School Mural:
ROLE: Creative
THE BRIEF BRIEF: Paint a giant Face
I used to paint a lot — as in actual painting, with brushes, canvases. and getting covered in paint. No computers, no clients, no strategy decks. Every once in a while someone calls and asks me to dig up those skills. This past summer, Pulling Paint Murals in Los Angeles asked if I could paint a 40-foot portrait of Dr. Dre.
I told them I’d try my best, but honestly… it was a pretty bonkers ask. “Does it need to be good?” I joked.
“Well, would you want Dr. Dre to be disappointed in you?” they replied.
A question I never expected to face in my career, but: no. I do not want Dr. Dre to be disappointed in me.
Anyone who’s painted a mural knows that beyond the art itself, there’s a ton of technical problem-solving involved:
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How do you paint smooth lines on a chunky, uneven surface?
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How do you get accurate outlines when you don’t have enough room to project the artwork?
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How do you avoid the brutal summer sun and time your progress around moving shadows?
Going in, I was skeptical. The team handled the trees and lettering, and I was put in charge of the face — the part everyone would actually recognize. Great!
Somehow, we pulled it off. The mural came together, Dre looked like Dre, and I even walked away without a sunburn.
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