In this situation on the West, we ran through at least like,
two or three generators.
You get frustrated and you can't paint that day.
Number three, baby, let's do it.
It's just one of those things, I guess.
[Chuckles]
My name is David Derkatz, I go by Derkz.
I'm a graffiti writer and muralist here in Windsor,
Ontario, Canada.
I specialise in large exterior murals using spray paint.
I just like to paint as big as I can.
[♪♪♪]
A certain client reached out to me from the
West End Neighbourhood Renewal Project.
They were wanting some mural work done,
some graffiti stuff on an abandoned building.
I had multiple locations I could have picked, but it spoke to me
because I was like literally just in this field and it was
like, a perfect wall to have like, a mural.
And I felt like the art would attract more people to the area,
it'd make it more welcoming.
In this design, they gave me total creative freedom,
which is awesome like, as an artist that's all you ever want
to hear from clients, is that you can just do you
and just showcase your art.
They wanted something elegant and powerful to represent
the West Side.
The West End is known for being a little bit more gritty,
like a little bit of the rougher part so,
they wanted something bold and tough.
And yeah, I came up with the two hawk designs,
I thought it was a super powerful and striking
image for them.
I think it represents the west well.
[♪♪♪]
When I start out a mural, I usually go up,
measure the dimensions of the wall, and then the next step
would be like priming.
After that, you start kind of like gridding out
your proportions.
And then from there, you kind of just delegate a spot that
you want to invest your time into and then
kind of build from that.
Can control comes in over a span of like years.
Can control is one of those things where,
you don't just get it overnight.
It takes years and years of painting pieces,
doing hundreds of hand styles of graffiti and developing that
skill, but once you kind of get it, you can refine it and you
can apply it to different techniques of like,
your mural work.
So I started doing graffiti and that really helped me.
How I produced my murals now and how I get all my like,
photorealism effects is through like, my roots in graffiti,
getting so used to holding the can and holding it at different
angles and seeing different outputs.
When I paint, it gives me like that outlet to a lot of
creative freedom.
You're not just sitting behind a desk, like with a pencil,
just using your wrist, like you're using your whole body to
use these dynamic strokes and you're involved with the wall,
you're engaged.
And my process is just, you throw on some good music and you
just vibe out and you just kind of express yourself on the wall.
[♪♪♪]
Some people might see a beautiful mural I painted
and they're like, oh, it's so cool and like really love it.
But others, like, they're not into it, which is--
that's cool too, you know.
Everybody has a different visceral feeling.
And I feel like as an artist, I find that the coolest thing is
to see their reaction to it and like what
they perceive the art is.
And I definitely feel it changes the community
and it brings it together.
It just shows it's a welcoming spot.
It's like, don't be afraid of this section, don't be afraid of
us, like, we're here, we're revitalising, this is a big,
beautiful mural, like we're here to stay.
I think that's the coolest thing about art or music or dance or
any type of discipline.
It brings people together at the end of the day.
I dropped out of college just to go paint murals.
So I think that was the switch in my head that brought me on
this journey and being able to travel around the world
and paint.
So, I'm super grateful.
From like, day one, even in graffiti,
it was all about the process, not like the product.
You're always evolving and you're always
sharpening your skills. -That's a wrap!
Right when I complete a project and it's finished and it's great
and I love it, I feel like just that moment that you drop
that can like, you're onto the next one.
[♪♪♪]