The fifth and final piece to Dream Puzzle by artist Dennis Larkins is “Flying High.” The surrealistic, retro-pop culture art of “Flying High” was later used to create a poster for Moonalice’s Sunday performance at Summer of Serendipity in Denver, Colorado on May 26, 2013.

After “Flying High” (and Dream Puzzle) were finished, to create the Moonalice posters, the paintings were individually photographed in high resolution and, as they were selected for their particular events, Dennis created hand painted graphics which were later inserted by Photoshop into the painting images.

We were thrilled that Dennis sent us some pictures on the creation of “Flying High.” When asked about this piece, Dennis comments:

Fly­ing through the air with the great­est of ease, whether float­ing on a pil­low or jet pro­pelled, we can peer into the dark­ness of the city to find res­cue in the arms of sec­ond chances…just in the nick of time!

Learn more about Moonalice poster 597.

Artist Den­nis Larkins has painted a mag­nif­i­cent mural titled “Dream Puz­zle,” made up of five separ­ate pan­els, later to be used as Moon­al­ice posters. The fourth panel, “Moon Tracks,” is a fantastic work of art that embodies a sense of René Magritte with it’s thought-provoking images and surrealism. Dennis comments:

The faith­ful are invited to gaze in med­i­ta­tion upon the won­ders of the Mys­te­ri­ous Dig­i­tal Trin­ity; Ter­estio, Celestio and Moonalicio…expressed, of course, in the past per­fect tense.

“Moon Tracks” was later turned into a Moonalice poster (M596) for the Summer of Serendipity in Denver, Colorado on May 25, 2013. Unlike the poster, “Moon Tracks” is three dimensional, created using foams, plastics, paints, and other trade secret materials. Dennis shared some process pictures with us to better understand how he created this surreal work of art.

Learn more about Moonalice poster 596.

Artist Dennis Larkins recently completed a five panel original painting titled Dream Puzzle. Today we take a closer look at the making of the third panel, “Floating Around the Fringes.” Moonalice fans may recognize this art as poster M569, created for the show at Pacific Grove’s Good Old Days Festival on Sunday, April 14, 2013.

“Floating Around the Fringes” is an original painting done in sculpted relief, so the images literally jump out at you, or in this case dance out to you. Dennis has shared some pictures with us to get a better understanding of his creative process. Once the outline of the image had been established, Dennis begins construction on the 3-D objects, which are later applied to the panel. After the sculptures have been applied, the painting process can begin, first with basic block colors, then by building up the various objects and characters through a series of light and dark steps, toning, and color glazing. More painting occurs, this time detail painting occurs before it’s finished with strong black line and highlights to achieve a cartoon realism effect.

Dennis notes:

Noth­ing says “Good Old Days” like a big toothy vin­tage car with a pretty danc­ing girl twirling on the hood! Add in bathing beau­ties soar­ing through the air on Spring breezes and you’ve got your­self a Festival!

Learn more about Moonalice poster 569.

Country Pies is the second piece of Dream Puzzle, a five panel mural created by artist Dennis Larkins. Moonalice fans who attended the Pacific Grove’s Good Old Days Festival on April 13, 2013 might recognize the art as Moonalice poster M568, created for the first day of a weekend-run in beautiful downtown Pacific Grove California.

As with all of Dennis’ paintings, they are three dimensional, literally jumping out at you. Dennis took some process photos of Country Pies to give us a glimpse at his creative process, something he has never revealed to the public before. He starts by laying out the visual content first, followed by the 3-D layer buildup, and finishing with the addition of color.

Nothing says “Good Old Days” like apple pie at the diner, add in a giant friendly cow nos­ing through the kitchen win­dow and you’ve got your­self a Festival!

– Dennis Larkins

Learn more about Moonalice poster 568.

Artist Dennis Larkins has created a magnificent mural titled Dream Puzzle, made up of 5 separate panels, later to be used for Moonalice posters. The first panel that comprises Dream Puzzle is Seeds of Change, pictured above. We had the chance to speak with Dennis, and find out more about this wonderful work of art.

To create Seeds of Change, Dennis began the process by enlarging his original draw­ings to full paint­ing size, which creates a tem­plate for sculpt­ing various parts like the golden gate bridge and the giant hand holding the crystal ball.

Dennis has shared some exclusive process pictures of Seeds of Change with us, revealing how he works with his medium.

Seeds of Change was turned into a Moonalice poster for the 420 Tribal Pow-Wow show at Slim’s, where everyone in attendance was treated to the fantastic art of Dennis Larkins.

Since the dawn of time humans have always under­stood that no mat­ter how sophis­ti­cated their forms of trans­porta­tion become, a giant hand hold­ing a crys­tal ball will appear in the sky to remind them of what’s really impor­tant in life … pixie dust!

– Dennis Larkins

Learn more about Moonalice poster 577.