Mike “Mikey” Marshall is hard to miss on the Colorado State Fairgrounds.

Tucked into a corner under a blue canopy outside the small animal building at the Colorado State Fair, the 42-year-old’s shorts are stained with different colors as he sports a gray and black camouflaged baseball cap backwards and sits next to more than a dozen perfectly placed cans of spray paint. 

His appearance catches some eyes, but no more so than his freakishly quick hands and obsessive attention to detail. 

Marshall, a Pueblo resident, uses his spray paint cans to carefully sketch detailed urban skylines or rural mountain backdrops set below the moon’s glow. He switches from one spray paint can to the next in seconds and doesn’t miss a beat, operating at a rhythmic level musicians aspire to.

He’s in complete control as his painting slowly but effortlessly comes to life. 

Fair attendees huddle and inch closer to his tent to catch a glimpse. The crowd extends four, sometimes five rows deep into the middle of the street. With each stroke, as components of his piece start to appear, attendees let out oohs and ahhs. Some pull out their phones and press record.

Marshall, despite his laserlike focus, loves it and bumps his head as music plays through his speaker. 

“I just want to give them a hug,” Marshall said during an interview next to his canopy. “Like dang, that’s cool, man. It’s neat when people really get into it.” 

Marshall, an experienced spray paint artist, has stood out despite no shortage of entertainment options at this year’s state fair. His style has drawn crowds each day and he’s in demand, selling each painting he’s crafted since the fair started. 

Marshall gently lifts his painting off his table when he finishes and slowly moves it back and forth so attendees can get a clear look. They applaud, of course, fascinated by his ability to blend different colors and use tools to create a 3D-like rendering of an image they might see every day. 

But it’s his technique that keeps people engaged and in lockstep with his every move. Even those walking by can’t help but pause for a glimpse. 

“I think it's just because I’m so fast,” Marshall said when asked what makes his style unique. “When I’m really getting into it, I’ll be looking at two or three other things. I’m not looking at the blue can that I’m grabbing. I’m looking at a tool here and a napkin there.” 

Marshall uses a scalpel knife to carefully illustrate birds and trees in his moon and mountain landscapes, or the Paris hotel for his Las Vegas skyline. A bucket lid helps outline a moon or planets. He folds napkins four times, rips and then dabs them in spray paint to make a mock stencil for bushes or have colors lighter or darker in certain areas. 

The latter technique he learned from Tony Vegas, a popular Las Vegas spray paint street artist and one of Marshall’s idols. 

The other is Emmanuel, whom Marshall met around 15 years ago. Emmanuel stationed his spray paint setup in front of the Carnaval Court at Harrah’s between the Harrah’s Casino and LINQ Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. The court was lined and scattered with different booths and vendors but Marshall, every morning, was intrigued and quietly watched Emmanuel’s spray painting. 

Emmanuel and his partner, Armond, later hired Marshall after he asked to work with them. He started to train with Emmanuel between midnight and 4 to 6 a.m. every night after getting off work shortly before midnight. 

“It was fun to me,” Marshall said. “I liked it more than going out.” 

Marshall later met Hiroshi Rodriguez, a spray paint artist and businessman who founded Visual Art Images. Marshall trained with Rodriguez at his house on the west side of Vegas for two months. They trained until they perfected certain movements that elevated their craft. 

Marshall worked on and off for Visual Art Images before starting his own gig setting up shop in front of casinos. He moved to Pueblo around 12 years ago, but flew back to Las Vegas occasionally to spray paint on the Strip. 

He first made his mark at the Colorado State Fair four years ago and spray painted at flea markets in Denver in 2020. His work is now somewhat exclusive — he doesn’t spray paint in his spare time and hasn’t set up at a flea market since. 

But Marshall has capitalized on his opportunities to spray paint. He secured a permit for the state fair and improvised sketches with spray cans when he worked in construction. 

“(Spray paint art) is something that you never quit doing,” he said. 

Marshall’s art at the state fair has sold consistently. Each sketch can range between $25 to $40, but he prefers for a customer to gauge what his art — and show — is worth. He mainly works off tips and doesn't want to turn down kids who want a sketch. 

“A kid might throw in five bucks and I don’t feel bad about it,” he said. “The thing is, he enjoyed it and I did my job. I don’t need to make a million dollars.”  

But Marshall wants to be known as a showstopper. He feels it's only right to capture the crowd with a unique experience during his blink-and-you'll-miss style of art. 

“You gotta go all the way with it, man,” he said. 

And it doesn’t matter how many people might be watching. 

“I could just imagine how people who play in front of thousands feel,” Marshall said. “I get an entire high off of a few people because I feel so connected. It’s just fun.” 

Chieftain reporter Josue Perez can be reached at JHPerez@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @josuepwrites.