First, I photographed the mural to stall while I decided where to begin.
Sky. Sky is a good starting place. Three men brought me a 6′ ladder (how many men does it take to deliver a ladder? Apparently, three!) This made it easier to work on the 8′ ladder, so the 6′ could act as a platform for my things. I also decided to go over the archway with the sky. I can always paint over it if it ends up not looking right. That fact always gives me confidence to dive in when I am unsure.
The background needed something. The original reference photo is sort of misty, foggy, or maybe smoky looking. Smoke is not welcome around here. I’m altering things enough from the photo that I don’t think duplicating the photo’s murky background will work. Enlarging murkiness results in large puzzling areas. Or maybe it doesn’t, but as the Art Empress of Realville, it goes against my grain to put nonspecific patches of unrealistic color in realistic paintings. 
I ran out of daylight.Maybe I’ll come up with a new plan tomorrow.
4 Comments
I love how you do the depth and shadows of the bark of the large sequoias. Beautiful!
Thank you, Jim! I approach the mural each day wondering if I am going to improve it or spiral down into a mess of no return. It is the background which has me bamboozled, not the actual sequoias. I appreciate your kind words! (Did you notice the little message to you on my blog on October 15?)
Good move to extend the canvas. The large trees needed more area to dominate. Imho. Looking forward to your solution for the lower half of the arch.
Donna, I will just extend green growing things, maybe add the side of another big tree. It just keeps needing adjustments.
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