Painted Gecko
From crispyneurons
My burner persona, my playa name, is Gecko. My friends all know that the gecko is an important symbol in my life, representative of adaptability. During the 2003 burn a girl named Anu gave me a plastic toy gecko as a playa gift. It was a sweet gesture.
During my 2004 sabbatical I decided to paint the gecko as a small art project. I wanted to take the gift and unify it artistically with my other gecko representations.
First I dremeled off the protuding manufacturing flaws (it was made in China, most likely for a few cents). I used Elmer's glue to fill in holes or other concavities that detracted from its geckoness.
Having completed the preparation, it was time to get down to business and begin painting. I chose three paints: a strong fire-engine red for the top, to match my gecko tatoo, a vivid yellow for the underside, and a shiny black for the eyes.
It took several coats of each kind of paint. I could really only work on the red or the yellow in a given session, since I needed a dry place to hold the gecko while I painted it. This part was a bit tedious, and took several calendar weeks.
Some of the painting required meticulous work. This detail of one of the gecko's paw shows the fussy boundary of red and yellow paint between each finger of the paw. I would say the four paws each took more time than the rest of the gecko did.
I'm very pleased with the final outcome. It was harder work than I initially expected, but it came out just as I'd hoped.
