Terry's greatest love is teaching, which, he believes, gives him the opportunity to grow through his interaction with students. He currently has nine instructional videos available through Airbrush Action and is a lead instructor with the Airbrush Action Getaway seminar program.

For 15 years, I painted large scale canvases for galleries. As I became accustomed to working "big," and began to make a name for myself and my work, I got swept into the world of advertising murals. Inspired by other artists, hand painted billboards, and muralists such as Wyland, I started creating my own. In my ten years of mural painting, I've worked on over one hundred.

Although there are many computer ink jet super banners that can be used as alternatives to murals, they rarely compare to hand-painted murals in terms of color saturation and impact. The painting process itself is also entertaining to pedestrian and vehicular traffic as they see the mural unfold.

Advertising, it seems, is always on a tight deadline. Thankfully, most murals are entirely sprayed, and spraying is not only the fastest method, but it's also great for blending.

Being involved in creating art on such a large scale is exciting, and in the past decade, I've learned that it's important to have fun, but it is essential to exercise caution when using big and heavy equipment like swing stages, scissor lifts, and scaffolding.

In addition my advertising work, I continue to paint and sell my canvases. The compositions are entirely my own. I find it's good for my soul to work from my own inspiration, and I recommend that, whatever kind of art you may be commissioned to do for others, you make time for your own inspirations.

I was contracted by the mural company Global Colour to execute this mural for the play Sunset Boulevard at the Ford Centre of Performing Arts Theatre in Toronto, Canada. The theater was built recently and has a nice smooth stucco surface, very suitable for mural painting.

After the stucco wall was primed with exterior latex paint, a linear transparency was projected with an overhead projector. We used grease pencils to trace the image. To move around to the various points on the wall, we used scissor lifts. The projection process could only be accomplished at night.

Using the photo as reference, we masked the sunglasses, lips, and background with masking tape and Tape 'n Drape, following the line drawing made from the projection.

To apply color to Diahann Carroll’s face, we painted with Binks 2001 spray guns. Two colors were used at this stage; first, a base flesh color, and then a darker color to shape her features and shadows. The darker color consisted of approximately 55% ultramarine blue; 35% burnt umber; and 10% black.

Additional detail was added to the face by blending the two colors to create more hues and nuances. The background was sprayed with black paint.

A warm flesh color, comprised of 40% red, 25% orange, 30% white, and 5% blue, was added to the palette to create warmer mid-tones. The turban was painted simply, using highlights over the darks.

Burnt umber was then introduced as a third flesh tone and incorporated into Diahann's eyes, nostrils, and other shadows. A bright red was used for her fingernails.

We colored her lips with the same bright red used for the nails. Spray guns with the primary colors–white, yellow, magenta, and cyan–are used to adjust and modulate the hues and tones. The hand was masked, and we began working on the darker tones.

Diahann's sunglasses were sprayed with yellow, orange, brown, black, and white. Finally, her ring was finally painted.

The finished Diahann Carroll seems to peer right over her glasses and into the eyes of onlookers.

After the background was complete, the fish were projected over a yellow base. Then, magenta is sprayed over the yellow.

The goldfish was completed primarily with magenta and yellow. Cyan and white were introduced in the piranha, creating the details of the scales, fins, eyes and other fine points.

Using a heavy application of cyan, more detail was added, starting with the dorsal fins.

Magenta was sprayed, creating purples and grays.

After the magenta was applied, white, black, and yellow were used to adjust values and colors.

The finished piranha and goldfish seem poised to swim right off the building.