Mural Work Day 6: Thursday Dec. 17, 2009

This is my mural at the beginning of my sixth day of work (fifth actual painting day). I want to work on the tree foliage today and the vines.

This is a picture of where my workspace is at COSI. It is behind the wall that is between these two doors.

Here are my supplies at the beginning of the day. I had to get some more tree pictures for my work today.

I am working on the top of the painting and have decided to use an "Impressionistic effect" for the tree foliage.
I also worked on the globe again, making it lighter. I also worked on the face, but I think that it still needs more work.

Here is one side of the vines. I decided to make a twisting effect for the vines, I think that it gives it more life.

Here is the other side of the vines.

I am almost finished! So I added my signature today.

Here I am with my mural at the end of the sixth work day. I am going to take a break now for the holidays and come back to it after the first of the year.

I think it is almost finished! Maybe one-two more days of work! Please give me your comments. What should I change or add to the painting?

Here is a view of the mural from one door.

And this is what it looked like as I left on my sixth day of work. Can't believe that it has gone so fast!

Mural Work Day 5: Monday Dec. 14, 2009

My mural at the beginning of day 5. I want to work on the vines and the globe today.

Once again I need to paint out the vines which means that I will need to mix and paint more light blue. It has been difficult to get the same color but I try to blend it over the original so I won't have to cover the whole painting again.

I've finished my second container of white making more light blue!

Here is a detail of the vines after I changed them.

I darkened the globe, but it is too dark...

So I lightened it again...

Here is another detail of the vines and globe at the end of the day.

Here is my mural at the end of my fifth work day. I plan on putting one more day of work in before Christmas and then take a break. It will be interesting to see how far I get!

COSI Mural Work Day 4: Tues. Dec.8, 2009

My Mural at the beginning of the day today. It still needs a lot of work!

I didn't like the blue that I used in the background, so I am trying something a little different. Not sure I like this either. Can you see the difference?

First thing I did today was to fill in the green at the top of the tree.

Then I decided to once again paint the blue background. I mixed three different blues and two different kinds of white together. I think I like this color better that what I had before. I also made the background much stronger, which was needed. Unfortunately I covered the vines again and they needed to be repainted again.

I added the tree branches at the top of the painting and the vines at the bottom again.

I also worked on the hands at the bottom and the body at the top of the globe.

Well this is the mural at the end of day four. The last thing I did today was to add some dark green in the tree. It is really beginning to come to life.

Here I am in front of my mural getting ready to leave for the day.

I have met a lot of nice people at COSI. They have all be so supportive of my project.
This is Terry White and me. I met him on my first day of painting. We just might be long lost relatives, because my maiden name was White. We have had some fun discussions about family history. Wouldn't it be funny if we were related?!

COSI Mural Work Day 3: Friday Dec. 4, 2009

I'm ready to begin my third day of work on my COSI mural. This is what the mural looked like when I begin the day. I replaced all the blue tape (that was coming off) with good old masking tape.

These are my supplies ready to go on this day.

At the beginning of the day I took some time out of working on the mural to paint some test strips so that they could test the fire proofing material on them. The mural will have to be treated with something to fire proof it when it is finished.

Then I dug into the mural! First I worked on this day was to change positioning of the globe and hands. The hands and globe needed to come up from the bottom of the canvas to allow room at the bottom of the canvas for mounting it at the end of the project.

We decided that the design should be at least 4 inches from the bottom of the canvas. So I made this change.

Next I decided to paint the background and this is me working on the background.

Most of the rest of the day was spent getting the light blue background into the mural.

I finished off my first container of paint doing this! Guess I will probably have to buy some more white!

Here is the mural with the light blue back ground in place. I'm not sure if I like the color. I'm thinking about making it a lighter blue.

Next I spent some time working on the globe and hands some more.

Last I added the vines into the painting again.

And my third day of work was finished. I don't feel like I got quite as much accomplished today as I did my first day of painting.
Seems like I spend a lot of time setting up at the beginning of the day and then cleaning up at the end. Guess that's all a part of it, too!

Here I am with my mural at the end of the day.
I added some paint splats onto my pants. Bought these "paint pants" specially for this job and I hope to be wearing many more of the colors by the end of the project.

As I left that day I looked back at my mural through the door and it looked pretty good!

COSI Mural Work Day 2: Dec. 2, 2009

Here I am ready to begin the second day of work on my mural.

Here is a better picture of my storage room "studio" space. It is actually quite nice. It is between two large exhibitions spaces at COSI with entrances on either side of the room.

This is one entrance to the storage room. You can see my "studio" through the door.

This is the other entrance to the space. You can also see my "studio" here as well as the hallway window.

My "studio" when I am finally ready to begin painting after organizing my space, reference photos (on the far wall) and all my materials. Ready...set....go!

Here, hopefully, you can see my beginning sketch.

My first strokes of paint. After doing the vines I thought that I should fill in the face so that my painting could begin to take life!

And she really did take life after only a few strokes! I guess I will have to come up with a name for her...any ideas?

More paint is added....

I begin to add the blue background. I am surprised how quickly the painting is beginning to take shape!


I put the hands under the globe in.
I begin to fill in the globe and add the tree limbs at the top of the painting. I am having a little difficulty with the hands and the shape of the globe, but it still looks pretty good!

Finished for the day. I have adjusted the globe and the hands a bit. Maybe the hands are too skinny? Will have to work on them more next time!

My work space when I am finished. Things don't look as neat as when I began!

Here is a better look at the mural when I am finished for the day.

This is me and my mural at the end of the day. I am surprised how much I got done in one day!