FIRST OFF . . .

Los Angeles artist Kent Twitchell and more than a dozen volunteers on Saturday began repainting Twitchell’s Hollywood mural of renowned character actor Strother Martin. The mural, originally painted on a building at the corner of Fountain Avenue and Kingsley Drive in 1971, was covered over with gray paint in January under the direction of the building’s owner. The owner has now signed a contract protecting the restored mural under the guidelines of the California art preservation law. Twitchell, who said Saturday he has no immediate plans to restore his “Freeway Lady” mural, painted over last November, expects to finish the Martin mural by October.