January 31st, Refining of Stewart Falls and Roberts Bench Area

Today we painted mainly in the Stewart Falls and Roberts Bench area. Although we are still in the MIDDLE VALUE STAGE (Step 5) and we will be for the next few days ahead, we went ahead and defined the distant tree line, some snow patches on Roberts Bench and the waterfall using lighter and darker values than the norm for this stage. Each of the steps in the painting process are pretty hard and fast rules and this method has been proven true by master painters for hundreds of years. If you cheat a little on the rules, you have to know when you can. Many years experience lets you know how and when it's okay to fudge the rules.

While working today, I met an interesting and important individual who works for Novatek kind of on the outside. He complimented me on my mural work. It is nice to know my work actually is appreciated by someone. It makes me feel like what I do has some value.

SKY AND MOUNTAINS TAKING SHAPE

We now have the beginnings of good shapes and colors in the sky and on the mountain peaks. Some of the onlookers WOWed and said it looked amazing when I just blocked in a simple turpentine wash of diverse foundation colors. It made me chuckle a little, but now I think they are beginning to realize there is much more to come, more work to do until it looks really good. I had a fun productive day working up on the scaffolding, but my back is a little soar.

On the peak I call Roberts Point, I am changing some of the patterns and planes of it's shape by adding different snow patterns and by getting rid of too many diagonals, replacing the planes with more leveled slopes. 

Everyone Is Happy To See The Clouds

When I painted the cream colored tone in the sky area, the employees started asking if it represented a smoggy day with a temperature inversion. I scumbled thin washes of semi-transparent whitish and cerulean blue tones over the creamy sky which now is beginning to have the effect I desired. The creamy tone is showing through a little. I was very pleased with the result. The sky is still a long shot from being finished. There will be many layers of color, value and patterns yet to accomplish. Remember, on a scale like this, I have to cover very big areas in a days time. I can't always do it all in one setting. I will likely continue to make several adjustments in the sky even as I paint on other areas of the mural. Painting is like a delicate balancing act, adjusting and balancing design principles and color theory until everything is in place.

It was a good day, in spite of the few hours I spent. I had to pay a traffic fine in the morning and leave a little earlier in the afternoon than I had hoped because my son needed to borrow the truck to fix his car. Jay Reynolds, the Shop Manager didn't even loose an eagle feather. Amazing!. He might just get his eagle after all.

The joke was on me.

Jay Reynolds, the Shop Manager asked me to put a bald eagle in the mural. He makes the same request every mural I do for the Novatek client. The first day on the job site, I saw Jay heading towards me. The expression on his face said, "Will I get an eagle?" I liked the idea and plan to paint one in the sky to the left Roberts Point. I joked with him today that if he harasses me too much, there will be one less feather for each time he bugs me about it.

One of the employees pulled a good one on me today. Across from the mural wall, I apparently got a little paint on the side wall of a metal carving lathe. A note taped next to the paint flick read, " Silly Artist, not on this wall, the other wall!" Instead of teasing them, I guess I better keep my mouth shut.

Painting In The Sky

Today is Saturday, January 22nd. I didn't work on the mural on Friday. Instead, I had a doctor appointment so I worked on the sky today. Soon, you will see beautiful cloud shapes rather than a yellow smoggy sky. As I paint in the "Blue Sky Holes", the sky is beginning to make more sense. The client liked the sky in my concept sketch and asked that a put a similar sky in the MC Print Mural. Whatever he says is what goes. After all, he's the one who commissioned the work and writes the check.

Mural Blocked In and Ready To Get Serious!

On Friday, January 21st, I will begin to get serious with the design and color harmonies, values, color temperature. The large picture plane is covered in a multicolor turpentine wash, leaving no white areas ( except a few minor spots in the sky area , OOPS! ). After taping down a 4 ply plastic to better keep paint off the floor, I will start by adding clouds and  bluish colored "sky holes" to add interest to the sky. Next, I will begin to define and refine the colors and details in other areas. I want this mural project to be my best ever. I plan to invite key people from the LDS Church Temple Design Committee to witness the project when it is complete. They are following it online. One of my very personal goals is to paint murals in the beautiful LDS temples. God gave me a remarkable gift. I would like to give some of it back to His great cause.