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.
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.
Life’s full of surprises. I went to paint on Day Four and found the parking lot full of cars. Hmmm, I wonder if something is happening in my painting area.
Yeppers. Good thing I’m only one mile from St. Anthony’s Retreat Center in Three Rivers, because I went back home and did other things that day.
Day Four finally arrived, and here is a series of progressive shots of the oak tree mural.
Here is a list of thoughts and decisions throughout the day:
On Day Three of painting the oak tree mural at St. Anthony’s Retreat Center in Three Rivers, I showed up and stared at the mural for awhile.
Which ladder? Keep spreading around the corner? Go as high as possible with the taller ladder? Ask for the extension ladder? Stand on the floor and add leaves from the bottom up?
I decided to keep building up, adding to, and detailing the branches to the left of and over the door as high as the taller ladder would allow.
Because I was doing the same thing I did on Day Two, it didn’t seem as if I was making any progress. Lots of ladder climbing, and then later, a decision to change the color of green for the leaves.
I thought this would be a 3 day project and now I know it will be 5-6 days.
That’s fine. St. Anthony’s Retreat is one of the best places I have ever worked: 1 mile from home, all the staff are friends, perfect conditions, quiet, WiFi, and LUNCH!! (coffee too).
At the end of Day Three, visible progress has been made. Incremental, but still visible. In order to make a believable tree, much staring, evaluating and thinking is required.
You can see how much fuller it is above the door compared to the first photo in this post. You can also see that an extension ladder will be necessary.
Weird. Afternoon sunlight has erased some of the left side branches in this photo.
Oak Tree Mural at St. Anthony’s Retreat in Three Rivers, Day Two.
After studying my photos on the laptop, I saw things to correct from Day One. Why didn’t they show up in person??
Most of Day Two was spent on bulking up Day One’s branches and adding twigs. I also put in some trial leaves at the bottom and learned they should be larger, which I fixed and liked. And, I turned the corner.
Behind that door is the mural that I painted in October.
Can you catch a glimpse of it?
This is the map to guide me through putting a tree on the wall surrounding the door.
Now I am committed to continuing.
Life’s short – eat dessert first.
Here’s what’s left:
Because Day 1 of the neighborhood beautification project was packed so full of mural goodness, I split it into 2 posts. So Part 3 is actually only Day 2.
Here is a list of thoughts about painting this mural:
*”The Facebook” is said the same way I say “liberry”, “prolly”, “Mr. Google”, and “Remorial Building”. I’m not as dumb as I sound, in case you were worried. Thank you for your concern.
The last post of this blog showed the beginnings of a mural on the neighborhood water treatment plant doors. I put some blue in the sky and knew there was only one direction – forward.
It is time to figure out where all the other pieces and parts belong.
This is the mural at the end of Day One. On Tuesday, I’ll show you the next steps of the process to create a Christmas present for my neighborhood.
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.
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.
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.