Category: commissions

I may have mentioned that February is my favorite month a couple of times. It still is, in spite of the fact that on this date, 16 years ago, my dad died. Weird. I didn’t think I could make it a week without him around, and now it has been 16 years.

Every morning as I head down the hill to work on the mural, I check out the view. There is a wide turnout with a great view up the canyon, and on some mornings, it is fabulous.

About 2 miles from the mural site there is a stunning field of mustard.

Across the street from the mustard is an old olive grove that my dad owned. (I wonder if Dad would have let all those suckers grow on the base of the trees.) It is a beautiful grove, and I expect it to be torn down for houses in the next handful of years.

Okay, let’s tackle some Tanzanian trees and shrubs and sand and grasses.

I enlarged the photo on my computer screen and then made some little sketches of the different shapes of the trees. It was helpful. Customer was pleased with my progress.

Then, I had to face that herd of cape buffalo. I tried enlarging the photo on my computer, but it was too pixelated. I worked and thought and studied and worked some more.

If I can’t see a thing, it is very hard to paint the thing. One of Customer’s people showed up to relocate the scaffolding for me, and I was relieved to move back to the tree.

To use one of the most overused cliches, “at the end of the day”, this is what I had. Customer said it looks as if Dracula will be coming out of the sky.

A guy showed up this a.m. to move the scaffolding out of the way. I drew the base of the tree. Then I redrew it further to the left.

Are you wondering, “What tree??” Just hold on. . .

Then I began painting the distant trees.

A little ground work, more greenery in the distance, and some delineation on the base of the tree.

Another working lunch.

Time to put in a hint of cape buffalo. Customer came by and said the tree was too short – duh. That’s the highest I can reach from the floor! He thought the buffalo were the right size for the location.

I told Customer that it would be helpful if I could see the tree in person. I need to touch it so I can tell the texture. He contemplated having someone chop one down and shipping it here, but quickly abandoned that idea when we began discussing the age. Baobabs are probably as old or even older than our sequoias. He said the bark is smooth.

This is how it looked at the end of another day. Maybe I can finish the lower half tomorrow, and then get the scaffolding back in place at a lower level than before to grow paint the tree.

Since the sky is finished, I pulled the blue masking tape from the top. Then I reshaped the small window, widened the building a skosh on the right, filled in the posts with a first layer and then Customer came to say “Good Morning”. He had a smart aleck remark about the bluebird, so I offered to let him put some blue on it. He actually recoiled at the request, so I opened up a container of blue, dipped my finger in, and smeared a bit on the bluebird.

Then, I began the dogwood.

The dogwood tree puts out its blossoms before it leafs out, but this looked a bit twee with pink, white and blue together. So, I decided it needed to have some green; let’s call it another tree behind the dogwood.

I also began detailing the grasses at the bottom.

You can see there are grasses on the left and blurs on the right.

See?

When I photograph a painting, whether a mural or an oil painting, things that aren’t just right show up. This photo tells me that the shrub on the left needs another clump in the lower back, and the large tree behind the building needs a little work. And it says, “While you are at it, could I have a few dogwoods in the distance? Oh, and maybe another branch or two on the lower edge of the big dogwood?” Bossy-pants photo.

Customer came back at the magic 5 minutes in the late afternoon when the sun is exactly across the doorway of the old building. Then he suggested ivy growing on the front of the building, which I thought was a grand idea. I began it immediately, and complimented him on the addition. He said, “I’m not just a pretty face, you know”. Except, being from Missouri (which he pronounces “Missourah”), he said “purdy face”. We are really having fun getting acquainted as I paint.

Okay, everyone just calm down from the bossy photo, brilliant sunlight, funny pronunciations, and creeping ivy. This is how it looked when I closed up shop for the day.

The ivy needs more detail, more leaves and some stems. I’ll check out the ivy at home before beginning on Day Four. This photo also shows the grasses before detailing, along with the not-quite-finished log on the ground and very transparent and sketchy bluebird.

Stay tuned. . .