Join our Sultan of Sketch as he shares the daily comings and goings of the week preceding the Tegu Investor Summit in Honduras.

9:43p I’m going to break away from the running blog today, and instead provide a recap with some interesting photos from the day. Honestly, today took place at a frenzied pace, and I didn’t have the time to jot down little notes on the computer along the way, so instead I’ll just show some photos (which, I hear are worth 1000 words.)

Using a compass to draw circles on the wall.

As I mentioned yesterday, one of my goals for the past couple days was to help spruce up the factory and lend an artistic touch to what otherwise might be a rigid and unfriendly place. After taking a look at some of the nice blank walls, I figured it would be pretty cool if we could add a pattern to a couple of them- one inside wall, and then the entrance into the factory.

The writing on the wall.

If I’ve learned anything from this experience, it’s the following:

- Drawing on a wall is easy. Painting on it is tedious.
- Paint brushes don’t come with erasers.
- Painting a wall should never be a one man job.
- It’s never the last coat. Ever. I can’t tell you how many times I said: “One more coat and it’ll be done.”

After a little exploring in illustrator, we finalized a pattern to be painted. The graphic story behind it is that each circle represents the creativity we want our blocks to encourage in every child- a creative thought, an idea, an “Ah-Ha!” moment. And each idea ripples outward and grows. That’s what we’re all about at Tegu: Growing a child’s creativity and imagination through play and exploration. Eventually, the ideas become so dense and numerous that the circles become a solid mass of color. And… well… there you have it.

It’s a little bit of a riff on the web graphic scheme (shown as a watermark in the LLH corner of our blog photos), but if you want me to explain the difference someday, just ask and I will.

Laying down the first of many lines.

One of our goals was to use up some of the paint we had left over and minimize the purchase of new supplies. Lest you forget, we’re still in the “start up” phase, so the more money we can save, the better. And while I think the design could have been more dynamic with the addition of some various shades, it was designed to work purely as a single tone on background.

I started on the one interior wall, since the exterior entryway was still being prepped for paint. The process is quite simple: Step 1, draw. Step 2, paint. Easy.

Standing on a ladder makes everything more enjoyable.

I’ve never done anything quite like this before, but I have spent my fair share of time drawing (even before I was dubbed a Sultan), so my hand is somewhat seasoned in its motions.  A great instructor I had in school was a strong proponent for using your pinky finger as a reference point against a wall or chalkboard, as it provides stability.  I couldn’t help but think of him each time my pinky touched the wall as I painted, as I will in the future every time that happens.  God bless you Norm.

Freehanding around my pencil underlay.

This pinky is for you Norm.

I got a little bit of help in the middle of the day when Christine stopped what she was doing to help paint.  Her disclaimer before picking up a paintbrush was something about “zero artistic ability,” however she could’ve fooled me- Christine wielded her brush with a total lack of fear and disregard for life and limb that would’ve made a Honduran motorcyclist proud.

Look, it's Christine!

If you look closely at the colors of the paint above, you’ll see what I meant about every coat being the last coat… until the next one.  Then again, it could partially be due to the fact that we were using the brushes on hand (foam) instead of the brushes in the next room (bristle).

Final touches...

We were on a time crunch, as the first wave of investors was coming into town this afternoon, and there was talk of a team dinner.  Of course, I was unaware of what time it was, so it was a little bit of a curveball when Lesly yelled out: “20 minutes!” and I balked at the idea of  rushing.  Thankfully, at that point I was only about 30 minutes from completion so it didn’t completely throw me, and I did manage to catch the urgent pitch in her voice.  I wrapped up the wall only 10 minutes behind schedule, tossed my computer in my bag, and we got home just in time for me to change up into some nicer clothes for dinner.

Done!

The yellowish hue and the sun on the wall would indicate that it was sunset when I finished.  And it was.  But hey, it got done, and I’m happy with the results.  Sorry I wasn’t able to get a photo of the completed wall with accurate colors, but if you want to see what it really looks like, come on down to Zip Ameriteca Industrial Park, and ask for Chris.  He’ll show you around.

-SoS

PS- I caught a gecko.

Déjeme ayudarle excepto el dinero en seguro de coche.