5~ Mural 2012: Maybe a Barn?

Gesture Drawings: Calf and Barn: Corner of Walls

All during the mural project, Brenda and I batted about ideas and discussed various elements of the project. She had hired me to paint the mural and knew my work from a long time back. She was willing to let me do it my way. I did want my artwork to fit the general guidelines of what the church wanted. It was their mural, so I was glad to have Brenda's input. If one of us disliked an idea, we discussed it and came to an agreement, or nixed the idea and went with something else.

All along, we'd planned for the town wall and the country wall (the two long walls). But there were also a couple of short walls, broken by stairs. As work spaces, they needed special attention. We'd already planned the north wall: a music shop (where their piano and music stand would go), and a "library" (where their bookshelf would go). The south wall would have a bulletin board, bins, and a couple of fire extinguishers, but the left side of the wall was still a blank. Brenda thought of putting a barn ~ and a red barn, at that; not the lovely old weathered, unpainted barns that we're used to in North Georgia. At first, I couldn't see it. It would have to be a small barn to fit in with the hills beside it. If I drew it close up, as she'd envisioned it (with a big cow out front), the roof would be cramped against the ceiling and the whole thing would seem forced and out of proportion. "Let me think about it," I said.

Gesture Drawing: Early Plan for East and South Walls

These are early sketches of the east and south walls. The gesture drawing of the calf shows a little fence that extends out into the room. Originally, Brenda had planned to have a play area that was physically divided from the rest of the room. It also shows my first solution for a barn, but I wasn't happy with it at all. The roof of the barn is included in the sketch, but is forced into a very shallow curve to fit the short wall. Of course, I could have made a barn in the distance, with the landscape being prominent, but that didn't jibe with the client's wishes: to have the barn as a prominent part of the wall, with a large cow standing out front. It would abut the next building, which would be the beginning of the town wall. I ended up ditching this particular design.

Mural 2012: Monday - Tuesday, September 24 - 25 (Planning the side walls)