First, I mixed my main paint colors, using the primaries.

That weirdo greenish yellow (or yellowish green) is not a primary, but is an example of a color that is easily mixed using red, blue, yellow and white. Isn’t that UH-MAY-ZING?? Still thrills me. I actually use 2 different reds and 2 different blues.

First, the barest hint of where things will go. This is probably meaningless to you, but I wanted you to see how the process works.

Because I paint from back to front, the sky color goes on first. Very little sky will appear in this mural, but it provided edges for the Sequoia trees. Then I climbed off the ladder and stepped back to see if the beginning marks were the right size and in the right place. (Notice I did things in the proper order – first climbed off the ladder and second, stepped back.)

Now are you getting the idea?

The photo that I’m using partially shows in the bottom of this photo.

These ridges are making it REALLY REALLY hard to paint.

Not having a scaffolding or a platform is also a hindrance to progress. Not complaining; just explaining in advance why this one may take a long time to finish. It will provide some fun for my neighbor Bob when he checks his mail every day. He told me that he hopes I don’t finish it too quickly!

Because moving the ladder is interruptive, my plan is to finish the upper parts first. As a right-hander, I find it easiest to work from left to right. In spite of working from the top down, I found it helpful to locate the bottoms of the trees and lay in the shadows.

The colors I mixed (or remixed or added to from a previous mural) were:

1. Dark redwood
2. Medium redwood
3. Light redwood
4. Dirt in sun
5. Dirt in shade
6. dark green
7. olive green
8. sunlit green

To quote Trail Guy, “Boy, those lines sure show up.”

Thanks, Captain Obvious.