Client: Kyle Smith / Illustration: Dreyk the Pirate / Photography: Stefanos Milionis
THE STORY BEHIND OF THIS PROJECT
Back in July 2017, i was invited to paint a mural at the street art festival "Karlovasi Festival". When i arrived, i visited the location and i was surprisingly informed
that this building was for many decades, the bakery of the village of Karlovasi.
So, i decided i could use this great piece of information as a basic reference for
the subject of the mural, as a small tribute to the owner.
A couple of years later, Kyle Smith got in touch with me through instagram, informing me that he and his mother visited this place, and surprisingly - it was her family that owned this place since 1922! The story goes back to Petmezakis family, owners of a tannery in İzmir, Charalambos, Nina and their three sons (Dimitris, Kostas & Spyros), which were split after "Smyrna Catastrophe" in September 1922
and opened the bakery in Samos. It was very emotional moment for her and this whole thing brought so many memories of her family and her childhood years.
and opened the bakery in Samos. It was very emotional moment for her and this whole thing brought so many memories of her family and her childhood years.
So Kyle and his brother, decided to commissioned me in April 2022,
creating a homage unique artwork 29,7 x 42 cm piece for the roots of the Petmezakis family as a present for her. The requests were pretty simple: Depicting the whole family working on the tannery scene, including somewhere the greek flag, Aegean islands in the background and a cat somewhere.
creating a homage unique artwork 29,7 x 42 cm piece for the roots of the Petmezakis family as a present for her. The requests were pretty simple: Depicting the whole family working on the tannery scene, including somewhere the greek flag, Aegean islands in the background and a cat somewhere.
INSPIRATION / REFERENCES
Mood board of Old and some recent stills of life in tanneries
DRAFT SKETCHING
Rough sketch created with pencil.
THE INKING
I chose to use two inks, just for the fun and experimentation:
A brown ink for the basic scene and a light grey in the background and some details.
A brown ink for the basic scene and a light grey in the background and some details.
The dotting, which was the hardest part of the process, lasted almost 1,5 week.
THE FINAL RESULT
"Petmezakis & Sons", Brown & light Grey ink on 29,7 x 42 cm Hahnemühle Bamboo Sketch, 105 g/m, April 2022.
A huge thanks to Kyle Smith and his brother for trusting me and giving me this great honour, with such freedom and create something so unique and emotional present ❤️
THANK YOU FOR WATCHING!
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