Day Eleven on the Mural

After a very productive week in the studio, I returned to the wall today and was greeted by this sight:

 img_4369.jpg

This is Channel 26’s Great Day camera man and reporter Clayton Clark.

 img_4368.jpg

Clayton did a fake-out while I was unloading my supplies.

img_4371.jpg

He wore a little thingie in his ear so the folks back in the Fresno studio could communicate with him. He did a little “teaser” every so often, and then interviewed someone every 15 minutes.

img_4378.jpg

Here they are with Randy Groom, the new Exeter City Manager.

img_4374.jpg

Clayton did some actual painting and enjoyed it enough that he painted when the camera wasn’t even on him. Made me feel like Tom Sawyer. 😎

img_4372.jpg

I let him add his name to the helper signature section. While there, I found a message from Marilyn and the Uganda ladies! Made my day!

img_4376.jpgimg_4379.jpg

These folks saw us on teevee and stopped by to help.

img_4380.jpg

This was definitely the most social and least productive day yet!

 

Day Nine on the Mural

Not as hot today – phew! The mules turned out well, but the final pronouncement of their worthiness is pending approval by my mule friends, the Weldons. I think they look great from the standpoint of light and dark ( “values” in Artspeak). However, I may have painted their legs too skinny or their ears too short or something else horrible if you truly know mules, as the Weldons do.

 img_4137.jpg

The lake got its first coat of paint. This lady told me she couldn’t draw a straight line with a ruler, so i handed her the paint brush and let her work on the water a bit! It only seemed right, since her name is Mrs. Purdey and that is a brand of paintbrush I like to use.

mrs.jpg

img_4146.jpg

After my painting session, I had a knitting appointment. (Oh come on! You KNOW you wish you had such pleasant appointments yourself!) When I came back by the mural, it was in full sun and Betsy and I were quite pleased with how it looked. I’m usually gone before it is fully in the sunshine, so this was a great surprise.

img_4149.jpg

img_4148.jpg

Day Seven on the Mural

When I arrived this morning, there was a section of mural that said “DO ME!” (perhaps I am exaggerating or hallucinating at that early hour). So, that section got completed today. Maybe. It may need more detail, but hard to say at this point.

img_4042.jpg

You can see I am adding little patches of this and that in the lower sections. This is the way I use up the paint on my palette at the end of a painting session!

img_4043.jpg

Had to tape off the borders of the additional “snapshot” area. I can see from this photo that it definitely needs more rocks.

img_4049.jpg

Here is the whole wall. Decided to take this photo when I realized that I hadn’t removed the key from the lift, nor had I plugged it in! I’ll blame it on getting up too early in the a.m. instead of my being distracted. And distracted I was – wow, what a slate of distinguished visitors today! Look at this: my 6th grade teacher, my 21 mile walking partner and her husband, my shorthand teacher from Redwood High, a lady who bought a painting from me a few years ago and her friend, the premier rock mason/artist from Three Rivers, and an entire group of wayward youth from a place called Courage to Change! Those are just the visitors I can remember – this is a very social project!

Day Six on the Mural

img_3999.jpg

Today there were lots of rocks and green patches to be painted. Most of the rocks look alike, and despite working from an 8×10 photo, they are teenie-tiny. After needing someone to send out Search and Rescue teams, I finally blocked out the area on the photo and on the wall, and taped the photo above.

img_4000.jpg

 

I was still lost and confused. I drew a simplified “map” of the green patches, taped it below, and (sort of) duplicated the green shapes.

 

img_4001.jpg

Time will tell if I did the right degree of detail in those areas. They may need to be blurred out, or they may need to be cleaned up.

 

img_4002.jpg

 

This is how it looks with the mountain above. I also cleaned out my palette by putting a first coat on other areas that weren’t fiddly like those rocks.

 

 

Day Five on the Mural

What a nice day!  The sun hitting me wasn’t a huge problem so I painted until it hit my palette at almost 2:30. Wow, good thing, because today I moved into the fiddly stuff – lots and lots of rocks. See?

img_3974.jpgimg_3972.jpg

There were lots of visitors today and I snuck photos of a few of them.

img_3969.jpg

Monica and Inda found all 12 items in my other mural.

img_3970.jpg

Louise and Katie showed me how folks will appear to be at Franklin Lake when the mural is finished. Hmmm, guess photographers will have to cut folks off at the knees for a realistic effect.

img_3971.jpg

Claudia from Fresno brought Kristianna from Germany!img_3967.jpg

But Wait! There’s More! Looks like the projection difficulty will be turned into another sepia snapshot! More will be revealed. . .

Day Four on the Mural

Today felt like summer, but it was still manageable in the shade which lasts on the wall until 1 p.m. It is quite nice at 6:30 a.m.! The light isn’t good on the mural at that time or I’d photograph it for you all. It is certainly quieter at that time of morning – I had forgotten how noisy a city is! If I’m not paying attention and the noon whistle blows, it could knock me right off that lift. All conversation ceases, and hands get clapped over ears all throughout the alley when that thing goes. Anyway, have a look at today’s work:

img_3948.jpgimg_3949.jpg

I realized that there wasn’t going to be enough space between the bottom of the mountain shadow and the lake, so the mountains got remodeled today. You might not be able to tell the difference, but this is definitely an improvement.

img_3950.jpg

When I start each morning, I don’t always have a clear idea of what needs to be done next. Today’s first task was to scoot the tree to the left to fill the space a little better. (The space  is from my inaccurate projection) Then I drew in the top of the lake and that’s when the proportion problem became apparent to me. Shoot. Oh well, it was an easy fix.

img_3951.jpg

Then, these 2 guys showed up and started talking about skiing in Mineral King and used my old mural to reference various bowls and ridges.

 img_3947.jpg

img_3952.jpg

When that one guy finally moved his old Toyota pickup, I was able to finish taping off the snapshots and put a base coat in. (Just kidding, Honey! I LOVE your old truck – it has been very good to us with the help of Foreign Auto Works)

Day Two on the Mural

img_3894.jpg

The mountains are being formed from the top to the bottom (which is the same as from the back to the front) and from left to right.  Notice the wall’s shadow – that is around 1:30 and it is too hot to paint the minute the sun hits that lift (and instantly dries my palette.) Love that handy little electric lift! Today Michael stopped by and showed me a few operating tricks; in addition, the lift owners removed the head-banger and extended the platform. Yea! Michael signed the projection list too:

img_3895.jpg