Below I am sharing my original mural (in progress) of the oldest running ferry in the U.S.A as well as some of my other favorite places in South Glastonbury, this mural is located in South Glastonbury as well.
It was started in late fall and I thought I would share everything from the very early fledgling stages to the current progress of the mural today! My sketches were done from observation, but for the ferry itself I did research various old photos because I find the ferry from 1950 more beautiful and interesting.
This is an angled mural, each panel has a different scene and I wanted to connect them visually, So I chose to blend the sky throughout and overlap the trees.
Each panel got a sketch that started on a piece of paper that was one tenth the actual size of the mural. This Mural is 33.5" by approximately 110" each panel is a bit different in size. The panels individually measure 31.5", 32.5" and 51".
The sketch below is done on a piece of paper that is approximately 3.35" by 5.1".
After each Panel got a sketch like this, I proceeded to sketch on brown paper that was the actual size of the panels themselves. My cat incidentally helped keep the paper flat. (The brown paper I used comes in a roll and takes a while to flatten). I also used various objects to weight the curling edges down.
The fun began on site with some frog tape and gesso. Once dry, I applied the acrylic base of sky blue and the adventure began. One of the panels, the far left one, I changed completely, because sometimes things just feel more right, and I have learned to entertain new inspirations as they come during a mural, most of the time.
Here is the very beginning, Day 1:
Here is the Progress from the middle of November, I worked on 1-2 adjacent panels a day in 4-8 hour sessions.
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This is the Mural Today 1/6/18, all progress made today and last weekend! The smaller details can be quite time consuming!
The blue shade is slightly altered because of how dark it is, and the incandescent light provides another variable, I wanted to share the unedited progress and how different images can appear depending on the light!
I will Post Again with the Final Mural and also add to this post! Thanks for checking out the progress!
Finally, Part of my Process is to sit and watch paint dry, and here is a look inside that part of my project.....
Super
Thank you vey much!
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Fantastic work, from small sketch to the big mural. Well done!
Did you do it by eye or use a grid?
Instead of a grid, which I find restrictive for some projects, I just referred to the sketch. However for more precision I would measure how far the left bottom corner of a house or a tobacco barn was away from the bottom edge and the right side edge, this helps create points of precision. I did this on each panel with the horizon line, tree lines etc.
For example if the three line was 1.8 inches from the bottom of the small sketch, it would be 18 inches from the bottom perimeter of the mural.
I loved going through the post. It's really informative, and your Mural looked really nice by day 1. Your cat poses like a real "artiste". :)
Thank you, now I am grappling with the tedium of details, and the cat, Figaro, is a pretty fancy thing! He tries to be helpful and definitely enjoys watching things like this.
Beautifull work, great post!
Thank you, it is great to see so many great artists on here! As well as hear from them and you.
very pretty painting, kitten and house :)
Thank you, the painting will also include some animals, the cat, Figgy, is a real team player :).
Drawing is very cool and it takes a lot of time and effort to do this wonderful masterpiece thank you for this work I also tend to draw and have some graphics I hope you like too
I look forward to seeing them ! Thanks!
Very very good @skinnes