BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) -- Bakersfield is saying goodbye to big gray walls and adding big splashes of color. A county and state project is bringing a set of eight murals under the Highway 178 overpass on Q Street and Golden State Avenue. The artist behind them is no stranger to big displays. "Since I was a little kid I've always sketched and colored in my notebooks during class," said Jesse Moreno, muralist and graphic designer at KGET. "From a very young age I knew that I wanted to do art." Hispanic traditions carry on during Dia de los Muertos in Kern Jesse Moreno, 34, was born and raised in Delano. Having spent most of his adult life in Bakersfield, he wants his art to stay local. "I don't see the need to go out to another community, or to another city, state, to pursue what I want to do," Moreno said. "I feel like there's a lot of work to be done here in the community." Moreno got his breakthrough a few months ago, with his first professional mural at the Linnell-Brahma Park in south Bakersfield. Now he's putting his skills on an even bigger scale, working alongside CalTrans to create an homage to Bakersfield's flora and fauna. "You see a kit fox running, you see poppy flowers, you see the Kern River, and you see a lot of the Sequoia trees that surround us," Moreno said. McKinley Elementary brings back Nature Peace Trail for students The art shows the beauty of Bakersfield to bring out the beauty of humanity. "It makes the community feel proud to see a lot of that representation on a community wall," Moreno said. "That would be getting rid of a lot of vandalism from people just seeing an empty wall and tagging it or adding graffiti to it." Moreno hand picked 10 artists to work with him in these murals. The two big murals including the wing walls are set to be finished by mid-December.