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Otis Frizzell gets creative on Auckland’s Dominion Road

With the help of MasterStroke by Resene and the Dominion Road Business Association, renowned New Zealand artist and self-proclaimed ‘taco guy’ Otis Frizzell has painted a brand-new mural that looks good enough to eat. Dominion Road is one of Auckland’s most vibrant and colourful strips, and its cultural culinary diversity is a huge drawcard. Otis’ 45sqm mural is an homage to this iconic food scene, which was his inspiration for the bright and bold detailing.

“For me, Dominion Road is a food destination,” Otis says. “You can get anything there, but Chinese cuisine is king. So the mural is all about food but has a very well-fed lucky cat as the central figure.”

Along with the lucky cat, the mural features the iconic Longest Drink in Town milkshake giraffe, a bowl of ramen, a burger, beer, a dumpling, a pizza, a taco and fried chicken – all painted in Otis’ signature style.

He has more than 30 years of public and outdoor art experience and since 1990 has earned his stripes as one of New Zealand’s OG outdoor artists. His work can be found in galleries across New Zealand and the globe, as well as on a huge range of packaging, promos, clothing, ads and record sleeves of local artists such as Che Fu, Tiki Taane and Fat Freddy’s Drop.

Coincidentally, Otis – alongside his dad Dick and long-time collaborator Mike Weston – painted the mural that previously occupied the wall, but as it had been tagged repeatedly over the years, it needed a refresh.

Otis drew a grid onto his original concept sketch and a matching grid onto the wall to make it easier to transfer his design.

The Resene ColorShop staff helped Otis find the right Resene colours to match his digital artwork.

Blocking it out

The process began with a visit to the site, where Otis drew the concept on a piece of paper, then took a photo on his phone and uploaded it to Procreate, an iPad drawing app. Once he had finessed the design digitally, Otis measured the wall and broke it into one-metre squares and drew a very light-coloured grid. Using a matching grid on his iPad sketch, he gradually copied the outline onto the wall square by square – with the help of a scissor lift.

Destination Resene ColorShop

Along with all the essential painting equipment required for the job, Otis also required assistance from the staff at the Mount Eden Resene ColorShop to help choose Resene paint colours to suit all the vibrant shades in his concept drawing.

Working together, they selected the corresponding hues from the grid on Otis’ laptop, bringing each to life with Resene Lumbersider Low Sheen.

“The staff at the Resene ColorShop were so helpful and knowledgeable! They helped match each colour perfectly. They also knew which brushes were best to use on the specific surface, too.”

With the sketch transferred and his Resene colours chosen, Otis got to work adding colour to the wall with help from a scissor lift.

Otis used Resene Lumbersider Low Sheen to paint the mural and noted that the coverage and vibrancy saved a lot of time, as he didn’t have to do lots of coats.

Paint power

Armed with all his Resene paint and equipment – plus wife Sarah to lend a helping hand – Otis spent five days working his magic on the wall. Resene Crusoe provided a punchy green for the taco’s coriander, the tortilla was Resene Porsche and Resene Resolution Blue shaped the Longest Drink in Town’s giraffe.

Otis was not only impressed with the vivid colour payoff, but the efficacy of the paint. “Resene paint has great coverage, so it saved me a lot of time. It means the finished result is bright and vibrant. I can always find the perfect colour at Resene.”

Along with the personal creative satisfaction, the process was an incredibly rewarding one. “My favourite part of the process was meeting people while I was painting,” says Otis. “From corporates to mums and dads with their kids, to the Dom Road locals. Doing something huge and colourful got such a positive response from everyone and some people came back every day to watch the progress. I love that.”

The mural is an homage to Dominion Road’s eclectic culinary scene and a nod to the many different cuisines that are available.

The mural was brought to life with the help of MasterStroke by Resene and the Dominion Road Business Association.

Before

After

The previous artwork on this wall was also painted by Otis with help from his dad Dick and creative collaborator Mike Weston, but overtime became covered in graffiti. The updated mural features a lucky cat, the iconic Longest Drink in Town milkshake giraffe, a bowl of ramen, a burger, a beer, a dumpling, a pizza, a taco and fried chicken.

Top tips for murals:

Resene Lumbersider Low Sheen is the most popular Resene paint for murals and it comes in all sizes – from small testpots to large cans and pails – so you can choose the right amount of paint to suit your design.
If your mural is in an area that’s prone to graffiti, apply Resene Uracryl GraffitiShield over the top of your painting so any graffiti can be easily removed later.
If your mural is bold and bright and unlikely to be graffitied, you can coat it in gloss Resene Clearcoat UVS which will give extra protection to the bright colours. The glossy finish will catch the sunlight though, so this is best for murals that won’t create any glare.
If you need to spray paint small areas, use a ColorPak mini spray unit and pour in your Resene paint. This will allow you to spray small areas without having to use toxic spray paint.