Murals | Cabin Art

Faded (poppy) Love #3

Let’s get those pinkish poppies re-oranged. (Funny, they don’t appear pinkish in this photo.)

Can I be finished now? There are 5 kittens, some knitting, weeds, and a stack of good books at home.

I put back the branches on the tree to the left of the door but am ignoring the dreaded door itself.

Truthfully, this mural is not in a highly visible place, it is rarely noticed, and no one cares if I refresh it or not. I don’t think anyone will notice if I leave the dreaded door. So, maybe I am finished. I didn’t sign it this time, so maybe I am not proud of it. Sigh. Maybe I am not finished after all.

Three Rivers mural three rivers poppy mural

Faded (poppy) Love, #2

We have had weird unusually cool weather here in Three Rivers, and I took the opportunity to continue working on the faded poppy mural.

You can see the lower section needs refreshing.

I started with green among the lower poppies. You can see that the middle ground of poppies is pinkish.

The lupine haven’t faded, so I am working around them. I did add some white tips to the blossoms on the far left in this photo.

I keep backing up to see if it looks as messy far away as it does from up close. The way a mural can look so terrible up close and so tight and photographic from a distance never ceases to amaze me. Feels magical.

Now I have added green to the lower right AND greens to the next layers of hills, fading as they move back. (If you are interested in ArtSpeak, this is called “aerial perspective”.

I worked more on the poppies, all the while lamenting how much was left to be done and getting COLD in May!! The pinkish colored ones haven’t been retouched yet.

There are some poppies remaining, along with the dreaded door. A friend (a very important person) really likes the tree, so I will retouch it on the left side and probably tackle the dreaded door, as long as the weather cooperates.

A list of what remains to be done, depending on the weather and my availability:

The dreaded door
The tree
Pinkish poppies, both close and far
Adding more popcorn flowers (or painting out the ones I just added)
More grasses to overlap the poppies
The lowest horizontal edge, which is currently covered in dirt and splatters from the rain.
Brightening the lupine, just because I love those colors and want more, more, more

I think that the distant Alta Peak and Moro Rock, along with the rocks on the hillsides can be left. Their fading makes them look farther away than they did when I first painted the mural, which is the way it is supposed to look.

This is KitCarson, who always goes first, like his mama, Scout.

poppies

Faded Love (of Poppies)

The first public mural I painted was in 2008 on a Seatrain storage container at my church. 2008 was a “super bloom” year of poppies, and we were in love with those flowers.

Eleven years have passed, and most of the yellows have disappeared from the mural. Yellow+blue=green, so the greens are blue. Yellow+red=orange, and the orange is now pinkish. Any yellow in brown is gone, leaving lavender or gray. The results are rather dull. It isn’t in a high visibility area, and because the darks and lights (“values”) remain, it looks okay (from the back of a fast horse.)

But in my opinion, it either needs to be refreshed or painted out completely.

Better, and now you can really see how faded the old poppies are.

It was harder than I expected. I had forgotten how quickly acrylic dries on the palette, on the surface and in the brushes, how difficult it is to control the edges and the blending with that mural paint. So, I abandoned the left side and went for broader areas in the background.

I enjoyed listening to the river in the morning, and I was thankful for the cloud cover. But after 6 hours of painting, I decided that was enough for a day. Maybe if there hadn’t been a weed-eater going in the background, I would have lasted longer.

This project is going to take much longer than I expected. I might just ignore the door and leave out the tree.

More will be revealed in the fullness of time.

poppies poppy mural Three Rivers mural

Regreening a Mural

I had a little encouragement and companionship while working on the regreening of the Mineral King mural. It wasn’t the normal type, with questions and requests for business cards.

Winchester closer to me, Cliffie here in the foreground.

You can see how the willows on the right look grayish bluish by contrast.

This might be finished, or maybe after letting it mull for awhile I will see ways to make it better. At least the greens are back to their correct colors now.

One of the most difficult parts of painting a mural for me is that the brushes don’t hold their shape. They get clogged up by paint, the ends splay out, and it is just impossible to draw with them or make edges look clean or accurate or anything at all like I want.

Sigh. Best viewed from the back of a fast horse. . .

mural

Unfading a Mural

The primary colors of red, blue, and yellow plus white are how I mix colors to paint murals. The paints are supposed to be highly pigmented and lightfast, but yellow ALWAYS fades first. Since green is made from blue and yellow, greens turn to grayish blues.

Two years ago I repainted the big Mineral King mural in Exeter because of this problem. When I ordered paints for the job, the paint company said of my yellow choice, “We no longer recommend that yellow for outdoor use.” Well, that certainly explains a lot. So now I am refreshing murals a little at a time, as I am able.

This mural was looking very tired to me. The owners weren’t unhappy with it, but it was hurting my eyes and my pride.

See how faded the greens are? The mural looks sort of okay, because the values (the darks and lights) are intact.

After pouring out the greens, I looked down and saw the green leaf from a Live Oak tree that matched almost perfectly. (That’s what color junkies do.)

The distant mountains, trees and basic landscape stuff can be left in their bluish state because that helps them appear farther away. (I started on some of the trees – that is why they are brighter green.)

Here is a good example of Before and After of the same area.

Tomorrow I’ll show you more of the repainting session. Meanwhile, I have to go scrape dried paint off my knuckles.

mural

Sawtooth on a Saw Blade in a Situation

The Silver City Store/Resort has gotten quite elegant. I feel honored to be able to sell there and to now be part of their decor.

Let’s take a tour.

The outside of the store is a bit different than it used to be but still recognizable (Who put her less than classy looking vehicle in front of the store and interrupted this photo opportunity??)

This is the view directly ahead when you step inside the store, although the unknown man may not be there if you stop by.

And a little farther right to the tables along the front wall. The photos above the tables are all the wedding photos of people who either met or married in the area.

Look to the left of the front counter when you first step inside (that square cardboard contains the saw blade.) Why yes, that is one of my paintings on the mantel. . . thank you for noticing!

Look directly left and that is the new store area where my paintings are incorporated with the other merchandise. (Nope, not a real gallery, but there are real customers with real money, and we consistently make real sales.)

Now let’s return to the front counter.

HEY! THERE IT IS!! THANK YOU, HANNAH, HANNAH, AND MICHAEL FOR CHOOSING MY ART.

Sawtooth

Saw on a Saw, Done

Stick a fork in it, it’s done. (Better not – the tines will bend.)

I gave this another good look. A few more branches on the left, another tree straightening, and my signature were all that it needed.

Tucker, please don’t drink the paintbrush water.

This was tricky to photograph. I tried several versions and decided it will be the most impressive when it is installed in its home.

Trail Guy and I wrapped it in 2 pieces of cardboard using duct tape around the edges and loaded it in the Botmobile for the next trip up the hill.

Sawtooth on a saw blade is finished! It is a relief to have accomplished an odd job and be pleased with the results.

One last photo; this is where it was and how it looked before it came my way:

Mineral King mural mural odd job

Saw/Saw 3

Saw/Saw, a mini mural of Sawtooth Peak on a round saw blade, was almost finished.

I fixed the camera setting, stood on the ladder to photograph it, and then realized that the trees on the bottom were crooked. Of course I only noticed this after putting the photo in an email to the customers, but immediately after sending it, I straightened them up. This is tricky business on a circle – how do I know vertical is vertical without straight edges of the canvas or wall to guide me?

That’s why I get paid the Big Bucks. (Fall down laughing.)

commission Mineral King Mineral King mural odd job Sawtooth

Saw/Saw 2

Welcome back! I knew you would be interested to know how Saw/Saw turned out. Not sure if this qualifies as a real mural or not; I think it might just be an Odd Job.

Time to start on the ridges in front of Sawtooth, and meanwhile I am still wondering why things look darker on the camera screen. I also realized that if I would put a circular mask over the rectangular photo that I’d get things more proportionally correct.

Sawtooth didn’t have quite the right angle, so here I corrected my shapes.

Better, as each step and layer ought to be.

Correcting the colors and shapes on the lower parts.

Finally, I figured out what was wonky with my camera. I had been experimenting with the settings, still not quite understanding what they all meant. When I changed “Poster Effect” to “Program” (who chooses these words??), It photographed more accurately.

But now the computer is not behaving properly, and when I export the photo of the finished Saw/Saw, it says it goes somewhere, and then it isn’t there.

My Mac is lying to me and cheating you out of seeing the finished saw blade!

Boy am I mad.

Maybe it will fix itself and work tomorrow. Besides, a job is never finished until these 2 things happen: A. The customer is happy and B. I have signed it.

commission Mineral King Mineral King mural odd job

Saw/Saw

What is “Saw/Saw”?

Glad you asked!

I have been commissioned to paint Sawtooth on a saw blade. Hence, saw/saw.

The blade is about 4′ in diameter and is heavy metal. I lifted it onto my round table and then couldn’t figure out whether or not I should lean on the teeth to get the balance off myself and onto the table. The weight made the decision for me – it was too heavy to hold while I decided whether or not the teeth would hurt me.