3~ Mural 2012: Friday, First Day of Painting

Wednesday, I searched my photo files and the Internet for models I could use. Thursday I worked elsewhere, so Friday, September 21st was my first day of painting. This was my first full-scale mural, ever. I felt a little nervous taking the brush to that bare wall, but I don't like to grid off designs or get too technical. I attacked the wall almost as I would attack a canvas: just go for it. I stepped back a time or two to get an idea of the space, dipped the brush into some neutral brownish paint, and started to draw. I figured that the middle third of the long, plain wall would be about right for the central part of my mountain landscape. I would put the mountains just slightly left of center, straight across from the double-door entrance, as a focal point for those entering the room. Oddly, the sketch didn't seem to be working as I had planned. I kept having to adjust and flatten the hills to fit my vision. There wasn't space to make them big and softly rounded, as the sketch would indicate. It didn't dawn on me until later that my sketch wasn't to scale ~ and then I realized that I must have originally cut my paper for a fourth full panel. I had forgotten to add it. Anyway, I sketched for the space in front of me, mentally dividing the sections for a pond to the left and a pasture to the right. Brenda had painted a pale blue sky most of the way down the wall. The sketch went quickly and I began to paint the mountain, adding color and detail. Next, I would basecoat the hills. I started to brush-paint them, but Brenda suggested that I use a roller, which turned out to be a wise decision. That first day, the painting went so well and so quickly, I was greatly encouraged and thought we'd have that mural knocked out in no time! Here are my first photos...

Above are three long views of the mural, showing its layout from left to right;
a sketch of the pond (left side of mural) and the pasture (right side of mural);
and a large closeup of the church and tree-line beside the mountain. The view
at the top of this post shows the center section, the focal point of the mural. 

All of these views are of one long wall, the longest wall of the room, which has no doors or windows. The opposite wall is a town with storefronts. We didn't work on the town side that first day.

Mural Project: First Day of Painting (Friday, September 21, 2012)