the evolution of a billboard

(will update this continually in the coming days)

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GTA 4 in Oct - 01
GTA 4 in Oct - 02
GTA 4 in Oct - 03
GTA 4 in Oct - 04
GTA 4 in Oct - 05
GTA 4 in Oct - 06

Thursday 11 October: sorry everybody I am off work today, so I don’t have any updated photos at the moment. It is raining here at the moment so I don’t suspect they’ll get terribly far today, but I will post updates as I take them.

Friday 12 October:
GTA 4 in Oct - 08
you can see the scaffolding is missing from the left side now, so that side is done; the wires are hanging on the right side; they have to whitewash the wall first, then draw out the design before painting.

GTA 4 in Oct - 09
they did the whitewash so fast!

GTA 4 in Oct - 09 detail
how to draw a billboard on the side of a building! the art is printed on some paper, they roll it out a couple feet at a time, line it up, and do a rubbing. sort of like a giant paint by numbers.

GTA 4 in Oct - 10
by evening, nothing new to report really. they finished the template art and obviously paced themselves to take a solid day to lay it down.

i might add, those guys are having so much fun! they hoot and holler at streetwalkers and are just making the most of being 30 feet off the ground painting a building! it’s hilarious to watch.

Saturday 13 October:
GTA 4 in Oct - 11
GTA 4 in Oct - 11 detail
morning! Indeed, they are at work today. I too am at work and will step out a couple times to take some extra snaps. unfortunately in the template art that is on the wall, I don’t see any text. but the graphic-to-be looks incredible!

Sunday 14 October:
GTA 4 in Oct - 12
GTA 4 in Oct - 12 detail
unfortunately I won’t have another update today because I’m going kayaking in the East River and won’t be heading to that part of town! so I’ll leave you to mull over how it was at dusk when I left work on Saturday, yesterday. will they be working on Sunday anyhow? actually, probably, yes. I’ll have images up Monday then!

(she’s got those big brown eyes…. hey, is that a cherry she’s popping in her mouth?!)

Monday 15 October:
updated photos coming shortly. you should all be quite pleased with the progress!

GTA 4 in Oct - 13
GTA 4 in Oct - 14

finish tomorrow??

Tuesday morning 16 October:

GTA 4 in Oct - 15

GTA 4 in Oct - 16

you can see the building, and thus the billboard, from a couple blocks away!

walking back to work I overheard on the street,
man 1: Whoah. Is that paint?
man 2: Yeah.
man 1: Holy shit!

it’s a very impressive piece of work! but it looks like it will take one more day yet. Lola’s cleavage is done but there’s still a fair amount of hair to paint, the Rockstar logo, and touchup on the ‘V’ in ‘IV’ for the game title.

Wednesday 17 October:
GTA 4 in Oct - 17
overcast and cloudy day. they’re finishing up on the logo, then will probably blaze through the rest of the right side. unfortunately i can’t say i see room for a release date or any last-minute guerilla tactics, but it’s still a fucking impressive ad campaign!

lunchtime:
GTA 4 in Oct - 18
nearly done!

GTA 4 in Oct - 19
packing up the gear a little after 7pm. I wasn’t able to get a ‘finished’ shot in the daylight because they were literally still touching up at dusk, and didn’t remove the scaffolding and equipment out of the shot until after sunset. will post completed shots ASAP (i’m not supposed to be at work tomorrow, but maybe I make a special trip for all of you!).

Thursday 18 October:
GTA 4 in Oct - 20
GTA 4 in Oct - 21
Finished, final shots. This post is officially closed! Sorry it was an overcast day again, so the photos aren’t saturated with color. But you get the effect. It’s an impressive billboard. It’s been fun watching this thing transform, and I really appreciate all the visitors and comments. But alas, we wait for a release date, and more importantly, to play! GAME ON!

update:
GTA 4 in Oct - 22

one more final shot that shows the building in good sunlight with saturated color, and also exemplifies the number of pedestrians who parade up and down Canal Street every day – tourists #$^!&*!! and thanks to Patrick from WikiGTA.org for the animated gif!

GTA 4 billboard animation

(see here for previous incarnations)
(or here for these images larger from my Flickr)

Update 2 Jan 2008:

GTA IV billboard painted over
As you can see, the billboard has been painted over. It ran for just over two months. Thanks everyone for watching!

110 thoughts on “the evolution of a billboard

  1. Hey whatsup, i hope you read this, umm anyways i went down there on wednesday jan 01, and the billboard was completly taken off, leaving a purple wall behind. but the scafoldings are still, probably signifying that theyre gonna put up yet another pic, probably with a release date this time =D

  2. As the guy who painted this beast. I thank you for documenting it, cause I never did! Not by any means a paint by numbers it is not…… but non-the-less hope we make it look fun. And hope none of our yelps were aimed at you or yours!

  3. thanks for stopping by Charlie! glad you got to see the documentation! it sure was bloody awesome to watch you guys paint that thing! I see more and more of your work around town, all stunning, but that Lola billboard is still my fav!

  4. that’s so cool! I hope you can take some pictures of upcoming murals on this wall…I wish you could take photos of GTA:Episodes From Liberty City on this billboard back in 2009. Perhaps i’ll be waiting for some new cool advertisements like this… keep up the good work sir! πŸ˜€

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