Justin's better half received a pair of Skullcandy headphones that sounded great but looked a little bit too "cute". Very pink and something that neither of them used because of the style. Of course I volunteered to customize them. Surely I could do something cool with them and it shouldn't be too difficult either. I figured I'd cover them with stickers or something simple like that but simple was the last word I can use to explain to chain of events that happened next. Here's what they looked like before I got my greasy little hands on them..

Headphones before customization..

I'm not going to drag you through the entire process in length but I'll paraphrase below so you can get an idea of what it takes to customize an item like this just in case you choose to jump off this plank yourself.

• Sand every surface to be painted, yes every nook and cranny. If it's still shiny you need to keep sanding. You want it to be dull.
• Tape/Mask of all areas that you don't want to be painted. That means cover everything with no gaps.
• Paint with paint of choice. I mistakenly chose OneShot which is an enamel. Slow drying, and too much for an impatient person like me.
• Dislike the first color which was black, experiment with stippling silver and red. Hate that. Paint the whole thing over with Olive drab. Like that.
• At this point I got the idea that the headphones would look like old military gear, something from the 60's but modern all the same.
• I chose a picture of their bulldog JD (He's the real rockstar in this family) to use as an icon for one earbud. A star with his initials on the other ear. Yes JD is short for Jack Daniels. I told you he's a rockstar.
• Paint more paint on top, let dry, try to reassemble, break the piece that holds the earbud to the headpiece. Realize I just ruined a day and a half of work and my friend's headphones. Sit in disbelief for about 30 minutes then refuse to give up on it. I figured if I was going to crash and burn on this project I might as well take it all the way to destruction.
• Drilled a hole in the missing nub and successfully did it without breaking anything else. Now I need to find something small and strong to act as a dowel to hold the earbud on. After about 3 attempts finally found a screw that worked perfectly. Onward and back in business.
• Still hate paint, scrape half of it off and realize that the OneShot on the base layer isn't drying anyway so it had to be done. Re-sand.
• Get new, faster drying spraypaint which works well but looks like crap because of all the scraping. Try to texture the paint with a paint brush to cover up flaws, doesn't work, try a heat gun to cause bubbling for texture, melt headpiece to an almost liquid state, ruin padding on underside of headpiece. Seriously, this is all happening. Let plastic cool and harden back up, fix padding with tape and back in the saddle.
• Vow to make this look good no matter what. I'm all in at this point.
• Alright, that's enough rambling. Here's the finished result. Put some rivets in for cool factor, added some hemp rope ties to the headband for unique factor. Enter Star Wars movie prop status. 4 days later I'm done. Make ad to promote this imaginary product. Sign it. Now I'm done…….

Click the image below to try it out for yourself

Finsihed Mural…..

In Progress shots………..

Ocean 7:14

"She captivates with her overpowering demeanor, vast and unbridled she swoons and swells. Within her liquid embrace I am captive, supported and free. In the tides of her fury I feel at peace, in the crash of her thunder I am home. Within her depths life has risen, upon her crests fear is known. I am humbled by her beauty, seduced by her song and cleansed by her gentle soul."

We've finally arrived at the last installment of the Gilgo beach murals. In the past two years myself and a handful of other Long Island Muralists have covered a once vandalized tunnel leading to the beach at Gilgo with beautiful murals for all to enjoy. The Ocean Project was initially conceptualized by Chris Kluesener from Thrust Surfwear along with the Surfrider Foundation to bring awareness to keeping our beaches and ocean clean.

This year we're going to be panting the North side of the tunnel which spans 115 feet in total. Kevin Corcoran and I are tackling a 30 foot section of that wall this year. We're creating our most ambitious mural to date so come down and join us. I've seen the comp for the other murals and it looks like we're going to have a great showing for the north wall. Make sure you stop by and say hello. Just listen for the rattling of spray paint cans and you'll find me…..

Place: Gilgo Beach, Long Island, NY

Time: Starting at 10am and going all day

Date: Saturday July 12th, 2008

Ps: If you want to see a time lapse sequence and slideshow of the last wall mural we did check it out here.

doo·dle1   /ˈdudl/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[dood-l]  verb, -dled, -dling, noun –verb (used with object), verb (used without object)

–noun

This is a doodle. There are many like it but this one is mine. I randomly enjoy letting the pen move on the page while looking observantly to see what begins to form. I then add more continuous line to bring those objects to life. I find the characters that evolve from a process like this one very interesting. There's a story in there I tell ya…….

Happy Holidays from me to you…….