The flag flapped around, casting disturbing intermittent light and shadow on the tank.
The hills need more detailing, more texture, maybe some color changes.
I added smears of various yellows and oranges to indicate fields of poppies, fiddleneck, and mustard.
One more session and it should be finished enough for me to sign my name and sigh with relief that another mural in Three Rivers is looking good.
The weather continued to be cool, which allowed me to keep moving ahead on the water tank mural at the Tulare County fire station in Three Rivers.
On Day 1, I noticed goatheads because they came right through the bottom of my apparently worn-out Crocs.
On Day 2, I took a big sheet of cardboard to put beneath me on the ground. Good thing, because I sat and knelt to work on the flowers.
First, the right side before the sun got too intense.
On Day 3, I hope to finish detailing the flowers and grasses on the left side, and then spend time adding detail to the ridges of hills. The lake might be just fine as is.
in 2009 I painted a mural on the water tank at the South Fork fire station. This is Tulare County Station 14 in Three Rivers.
I mixed the colors using red, yellow and blue, plus white. About 2 years ago, the mural company stopped recommending that particular yellow for outdoor use.
See why?
There – see the darker blue now? Colors are supposed to fade as they recede into the distance. That is part of what helps us know what we are seeing.
When the sun shines directly on a mural, the paint dries too quickly on my palette and in my brushes and I can’t do my best work. So, this shall be continued. The grasses and flowers will take quite a bit of time, and the lake might need another coat. Then I’ll probably start drawing with my paintbrush, making up ridiculously detailed areas because that is the most fun part to me.
The green looks a bit uneven because it is wet. Those tiny white letters were challenging, nay, CHALLENGING!
The two sided A-frame mural (sign? what is this thing?) needed a few touch-ups.
In case you are wondering, yes, I can name all the flowers. They are all foothill flowers, not in my wildflower book Wildflowers of Mineral King: Common Names.
Other than getting the quail as close to reality as possible, this side was just lots of scribbling in brownish yellows and yellowish browns.
I was concentrating so intently on this side that I forgot to take photos until this stage.
All that remains is studying it for awhile to see what needs to be refined.
While walking in my Three Rivers neighborhood one morning, I saw this bit of ugliness and got an idea. The neighbor, who has graciously allowed the water board to put this booster pump on his property, agreed with my idea.
Side one.
It is fun to use all these colors.
Side two and the final touch-up are ahead.
In 2018 I refreshed a mural in Exeter because the greens had all faded to a blue or bluish gray or even lavender. As I was ordering the paints, the paint company said of the yellow, “We no longer recommend that yellow for outdoor use”.
That explains a lot of fading – the yellow was not lightfast, contrary to its rating. Green is made of blue and yellow, so when the yellow fades, only the blue remains.
My own Sequoia mural at home, painted in 2014, was very faded. It didn’t look awful to the average bear standing at the bottom of our driveway because the values (the darks and lights) were still believable. I like green to actually look green, so it was time to mix new green paints using the truly lightfast new yellow.
When I painted this originally, my neighbor Bob loved to check my progress daily and actually told me to slow down. I miss Bob. One of these ladders used to belong to him.
I stood on the extension ladder and used Bob’s ladder as a platform while I first touched up the blue sky.
Then I started the greens. Pretty strong difference, eh?
This next photo looks awful, but murals aren’t meant to be viewed this closely. I am showing you so you can see the new green on top against the old green on the bottom.
Just the green and the sky has been refreshed, but it looked so good I decided the trees are fine as is.
Canada geese were everywhere in Mooney Grove Park while painting the murals on the Tulare County Museum. E V E R Y W H E R E.
Nope, not chasing the same wild goose and photographing him over and over. The man who knows the most about the park estimates there are about 300 Canada geese there, and there will be more since this is the season for nesting and mating.
Canada geese EVERYWHERE.
If you can’t beat ’em. . .
Tomorrow we will begin our tour of this wonderful park.
Really it is Day 6B, but there was that careless numbering incident. Let’s not dwell on that. Instead, have a look at the finishing touches for Day 6, my final day on the mural on the Tulare County Museum in Mooney Grove Park, Visalia, California, the county seat of Tulare County, where I was born.
Shut up, Central California Artist, and just show us some pictures.
I painted the inner rim to match the wall color so it would be lighter in there. This scrub jay landed atop the circle. Obnoxious birds, but such a pretty color.
That’s not a real bird!
Okay, it didn’t land. It got painted on.
I signed it in two places. Never had to figure out how to do this before, because this is the first 4 part mural I’ve painted.
Here is the final look. I finished earlier than usual, so the light wasn’t that great for photography.
I’ll miss working here. The people are great, the museum is interesting, and the grounds are beautiful.
Tomorrow I will show you one more interesting thing about these murals.
Thanks for following my mural project!
Not really. It wasn’t Day 7; it was Day 6, but I seem to have trouble counting accurately on occasion. (You may have noticed that the mural saga jumped from Day #3 to Day #5.)
My goal on Day 7 (6) was to finish basket #2, along with some finishing touches to all the other murals.
This is the basket design I chose for the second circle.
This time I painted the inside rim in addition to the circle itself. I learned from the other one that there was no point to making it look as if it was in shadow, because it truly is in shadow, due to the rim.
Next, I drew on some guidelines. This was easier than the first time. That’s how practice is supposed to work.
Here is a photo to help you see where basket #2 will go.
The paint colors were already mixed, so I was able to dive in.
But wait, what is this??
Sometimes I like to just have a little fun.
Allll-righty-then! Tomorrow I’ll show you the finishing touches. Stay tuned.