It's cold out on Tuesday night. Aaron Whisner and Justin Baney are 25 feet above the sidewalk on a scissor lift painting the detail onto Woody Guthrie's face.
People come out of local bars and restaurants to talk about the new portrait.
"I didn't know Tulsa had anything this cool."
"Isn't he supposed to be facing the other way?"
Occasionally, someone offers to bring them coffee, say "looks great" or simply "Thank you"
Whisner, a local artist and graphic designer who recently opened a store front in the Pearl District called Clean Hands, selling art supplies, clothes and books, designed the sketch that he's painting on the west side of the soon-to-be-opened Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa.
At 37 feet tall, this is the tallest piece that Whisner has worked on. Standing outside on Thursday afternoon putting the finishing touches on it, Whisner and Baney estimate that they've used 60 gallons of paint and about 70 hours to complete the project. The Woody Guthrie Center, will open next week.
Aaron Whisner pours paint into a smaller container as he starts work on a mural of Woody Guthrie on Tuesday, April 16, 2013. Whisner, a local artist and Justin Baney painted the large mural of Woody Guthrie on the side of the building that will house the Woody Guthrie Center earlier this week. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
Local artist and graphic designer, Aaron Whisner works on a mural of Woody Guthrie outside the building that will house the Woody Guthrie Center on east Brady on Tuesday, April 16, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
Aaron Whisner paints Woody Guthrie's guitar on a mural outside the building that will house the Woody Guthrie Center on east Brady on Tuesday, April 16, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
The artist's supplies sit on a sidewalk outside the building that will house the Woody Guthrie Center on east Brady on Tuesday, April 16, 2013. Aaron Whisner and Justin Baney spent the week finishing the large mural, sometimes working late into the night to avoid rain.JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
Whisner talks about his work as he spreads a drop cloth on the sidewalk on Tuesday, April 16, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
Whisner uses a roller to fill in the frets on Woody's guitar on a mural of Woody Guthrie on east Brady on Tuesday, April 16, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
