Jacksonville artist paints Guinness World Record-breaking mural

You may think the 1,900-square-foot mural looks fuzzy, but it's actually 3D

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Painting a world record-breaking mural in a Jacksonville neighborhood was a dream come true for a local artist.

The painting may have you rubbing your eyes, but no, it's not blurry.

It's a 3D mural on a building in the city's Brooklyn neighborhood that was painted by artist Jason Tetlak.

He told News4Jax on Tuesday the process was like painting two different pictures. When you put on the 3D glasses, one eye sees the red painting and the other eye sees the blue.

"Painting 3D by hand is a little tricky," Tetlak explained. "In order to make it work, the red and blue have to line up and be in a certain spot."

Jacksonville's Brooklyn area was the inspiration behind Jason Tetlak's mural.

Tetlak said the location was a big inspiration for the mural, which pays tribute to the Beastie Boys, a hip-hop rock band from New York City.

"(While) looking for a wall big enough to break the world record, I found this wall in the Brooklyn area," he said. "So, Brooklyn, Beastie Boys just went together."

Like the Beastie Boys song, it was "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" for Tetlak, who works as a digital designer by day. Along with his full-time job, Tetlak spent 50 hours over the course of a week to complete the mural. The paint, the lift and the brushes were all paid for out of his own pocket.

After the 1,930-square-foot mural was finished in March, an official surveyor with Guinness World Records came out to document it.

Tetlak only recently got the certificate proving his mural broke the Guinness World Record for largest 3D painting in the world. 

"It's a little anticlimactic," he said. "I do so much work beforehand, and then I was sitting around waiting. And when the email came in and said it was official, I was like, 'OK. On to the next thing.'"

Tetlak said he is more proud of the reaction he gets from people who take a moment to glance at his work of art.

"For me, as an artist, I see all these plain gray and tan walls around town and it just looks like an empty canvas to me," he said. "There's so many opportunities to add color."

Where can you find 3D glasses so you can truly appreciate the masterpiece? Tetlak said he wasn't able to find any locally, but sometimes he'll order them in bulk and leave them at the mural on the building -- located at 250 Park Street Jacksonville, FL, 32204 -- so people can look at it.

As for what's next, the Jacksonville artist has a few art shows coming up. For more information about those, or to purchase a hand-screened print of the mural, visit Tetlak.com.

If you don't want travel to the 3D mural every time you want to view it, you buy a hand-screened print.