Process: John Casey.

***I am super pleased to announce a new weekly feature here on ML4U; Process/Inspiration. I have asked artists to take a post and do whatever they would like with it, just as long as they represent their process or inspiration in some way. Our first artist is John Casey, an artist and a friend I have covered quite a bit on the blog. I hope you dig this first installment of Process/Inspiration from John, it's super thorough and a great peek into his process. Thanks John!  p.s. I've left the comment section open if you want to chat with John, fun right? - meighan***

Hi folks. Meighan has asked me to share some of my process with you, the readers of this fine blog. I decided to show you the steps I took to create a large wood cutout version of a recent drawing of mine for a show I have at POVevolving Gallery on L.A.'s Chinatown district.

Here is my original pen and ink drawing called "The Plot." My goal is to turn this 26"x20" drawing into a 11'x5'  1/2" plywood based wall cutout. Hopefully, I will not bore you with my 20+ photos but there are many steps and I want to be thorough.

In my studio in the Marin Headlands, I first bust out my trusty Artograph projector to trace off the shapes of the image. I had to figure out the best way to divide up the large character since this big feller would need to break down to travel in my car to L.A.

I'm pretty handy with ye ol' jigsaw.

Figuring a way to assemble the 3-piece bigger figure using a plywood backing.

A bazillion screws helps.

A big piece ready for paint.

First the edges need to be black.

Then the fronts are painted white with a quality satin interior paint. After the paint dries, it's time to project and retrace the details in pencil for inking.

Ready for ink.

I use a Faber-Castell brush pen.

While increasing the scale of a drawing, the process naturally alters the line weight. The overall look and feel of the image may change from the original, and I'm very much okay with that.

A spray acrylic clear coat is necessary to lock the ink in place before adding additional clear coat with a brush or roller (smooth foam roller is best). Don't try to paint clear coat directly onto ink on wood because it will smear the line work. An initial spray is best to secure the ink then, once dry, you can add more coating.

I like to use a satin water-based polyurethane as the final coat.

All assembled for a test staging in my studio.

Looks good!

Wrapped up for travel.

At POVevolving in Chinatown!

Unwrapping.

Assembling (my lovely wife Mary helped me out with assembly and installation, and took the pics).

Installed!!

I will have pics of the show up soon on my website, www.bunnywax.com. In the meantime, thank you Meighan for the opportunity to share my process with your readers and I will be happy to answer any questions in the comments section.