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Designed on Surface: Lucas Aoki creates a stunning mural with Surface Book

Written By published January 29, 2016

Welcome to another installment of the Designed on Surface global art project! When you look at Lucas Aoki’s beautiful mural in Austin, Texas that he created with the help of Surface Book, you’ll be surprised to hear how Lucas himself describes his journey into art. “I didn’t really pick up painting until 2010, a few years after moving to Austin.” As someone who loved to draw from a young age, but virtually stopped after primary school – I am honestly awestruck. I feel fortunate have the continued opportunity to work with a lot of artists from incredibly varied backgrounds who have decided to work digitally with Surface or with other devices. Their passion and talent always amazes me and inspires the work we do on Surface.

The description that best fits Lucas is probably street artist. He works with a combination of spray paint and traditional wall paint. The first time he tackled a full-scale wall was in 2011, and his abilities and technique have progressed ever since. When you speak with Lucas you get this sense that he is full of creative energy. He is on a mission to express himself through art. In his own words, expressing himself through painting and street art “just feels right.”

Check out this video to learn more about Lucas & his mural:

I asked Lucas how working with Surface Book helps him to be more creative. First off, when Lucas works digitally it helps him visualize his ideas faster. He explained that when he is in brainstorming mode, it’s important to get ideas committed to the screen quickly. That frees his head up to move to the next thing. He can quickly explore an idea on the screen and then later go in and make edits like adjustments to colors, swapping elements of his concept drawings around, or adding or deleting elements.

Lucas works with a Surface Book featuring a 6th Generation Intel Core i5 processor with 8GB of RAM. When he’s outside his studio, he prefers to detach the clipboard and work with the freedom of just the screen, which offers all the laptop power he needs. Lucas is able develop his ideas even when on the go, naturally alternating between using the Pen or his fingertips for input.

When Lucas works at his desk, he attaches the keyboard base for longer battery life and access to keyboard shortcuts. Lucas uses Adobe Creative Cloud on his Surface Book, just as you might on your desktop or laptop at home.

If you want to see timelapse photography of Lucas’ mural coming together in its entirety – check this out: