Behind the brush: what goes into making a mural?

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — From Stone Ave., to Sixth Ave. to Grant Rd., it's hard to go anywhere in Tucson without running into a Joe Pagac piece.

Now, he's adding even more color to Tucson's concrete with a new mural in Midtown, near 5th Ave. and Alvernon Way.

At over 9,000 square feet, this will be his largest mural — 1,000 feet larger than Arizona's tallest mural, which was also done by Pagac.

But what does it take to bring art like that saguaro or like this one from a piece of paper to a three-story painting?

"I have to make sure that it's going to work from a bunch of different angles because people are going by on the street from all different directions, the building's popping out," Pagac said.

Using a grid to transfer the design, he measures down to the inch.

"No matter what size your painting is, if you use the same number of brush strokes, you end up with a good painting," Pagac said.

But instead of brushes, Pagac uses electric paint sprayers, marking color blocks to match the design — which doesn't always look like his original plan.

Then, the brushes come in to add on any details.

Pagac's first design looked different, but after going back and forth with the building owners, the final product evolved.

"It's almost nothing like it was," Pagac said.

But he says that's how he likes it.

"Because if you just paint what's in your own head all the time, you don't challenge yourself," Pagac said. "They say art is an old man's game where hopefully, you just keep getting better at it until you die."

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