Colored Wata'

♫ Somewhere Over the . . . Large Wall ♪

I completed a new mural over the course of 1.5 weekends.  I worked hard, long hours, but not necessarily fast (even though I tried).

Empty Wall

 Final Concept

Close Up

Character Designs

Early Concepts

I have some work to do . . .

Meh

I'll get there eventually.

K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Silly

After a catastrophic painting session last Sunday, I mustered up enough courage to go outside into the real world and give painting another try.

• There is no "undo" button in the real world, especially with water colors, but it is important to learn how to make definite choices and keep moving forward.
• This is a very gentle painting that is really just practice, and an attempt to learn how to focus and calm the brain.

In Plein Air

Above is an experimental painting done "en plein air" which is a French expression for "in the open air".  I like the lines created by the real architecture it is based on, but ultimately this painting is just "plein".  

Thank you I'll be here all week.

The frustrations caused by the previous painting inspired me to consider trying harder and actually practice.  Go figure.  I felt like trying watercolor, but only had acrylic paint.  Solution:  heavily dilute acrylic paint.  The tree above is NOT meant to be abstract like the previous painting.

Sunday Painting

Below is an acrylic painting of a very particular dog. The goal was to apply the paint quickly and loosely while trying to achieve a balanced / representative look with the final image. After painting on huge walls, this 11"x14" canvas was a cinch!

Mural Progression Summer 2013

Over the course of the Summer I worked on five murals for a local church. Check out the video below to see it come to life! Watch in HD for the best viewing experience.

Mural Progression Summer 2013 from Noel on Vimeo.
Music is from "The Piano Guys".
Rough designs below:

Badly Photoshopped composite: Taking pictures of a huge wall presents interesting perspective issues:

Day 94 - Circles Are . . . Shall We Say "Difficult"

Below is a recently completed port window to complement the sea-life mural in the room.

Below you can see the rough template first drawn on newsprint paper based on some research images.

The image was then transferred onto tracing paper and outlined on the reverse side with pink chalk.

The final step in transferring the image was placing the paper with the chalk against the door and going over the drawing one more time. 

Day 86 - Update 2 - Mural anyone?

This is gonna be quick. Look at the time. oi.
Below are images of a mural I completed this summer.

It was a great project and everyone involved was very nice.

Lesson reinforced: A little bit of planning goes a long way. Be prepared.
Challenges: Figuring out how to paint a HUGE gradient for the sky, making sure brushes didn't dry with paint on them, staying hydrated (definitely lost a few pounds in sweat . . .and smelled like it too).

The concept drawing almost perfectly matched the final painting when layered on top of each other. Cool!  Click to see larger.