Whole lotta painting, not much blogging.

It's been many years since I thought and talked about work during off hours, but  the completion date is looming and I am spending more time working, so it's only natural. These days the mural is always on my mind.

It's paying off, though. In the last couple of weeks I have made a lot of progress. The tree silhouettes and bark have been pretty much honed in (except for the oak tree...need to fix it), and the levels and placement of hills is done, though I still need to adjust the color some. Boulders are starting to replace barren hillsides, and I have figured out where most of the remaining critters are going to go. I have chosen more plants, and know where they are going to go. I feel good about where I am in the process, and am still thinking about adding things that are not on the list, so I'm doing OK.

The box turtle, possums, and skunk are done, but I can't find the photos I took for some reason so I will add those later.

I added two new critters, and finished the bobcat.

bobcat original sketch

finished bobcat with mountain laurel

Red-bellied woodpecker

Southern Flying squirrel

Ten weeks till completion!

That's right! In ten weeks the mural will be complete! Here's a quick look at then and now.

Then

 

 

 

 

As of 1.3.12

And here is how it looks within the context of the classroom.

Classroom context

Lots of work to be done, for sure, but I expect this final phase to unfold quickly as the pieces fall into place. The next bit I am going to tackle is the Sycamore grove on the right side. Then the hilly area in the center will get some boulders and rocky outcrops.

There is going to be a logistical problem to overcome. I planned to have a black vulture and a red-tailed hawk soaring in the sky above the mountains. Yesterday I stood on the highest rung of the ladder that I felt comfortable on, and I could only reach the tops of the mountains. I think I can do the tree tops and other things that don't require much detail with a long-handled brush. But not the kind of detail required to get the birds to a level of detail to identify the species. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Maybe it's as simple as getting a taller ladder.

Another thing I still need to address is a sealant of some sort. Acrylic paint is pretty tough and you can basically wipe it clean with a damp cloth, so I am not too worried about that. However, over the holidays there was an "accident". Something heavy must have bumped into the mural and took out a nickle-sized area very close to the heron's head. I can fix it, but this kind of thing is bound to happen in a room where hundreds of people pass through on a regular basis, and no amount of sealant will protect from that kind of contact. Maybe we need to think about the possibility of a plexiglass shield for the lower portion.

Chunk of paint missing under heron's chin

This last image is the cardinal flower, which will soon be sporting a summer resident hummingbird.

Is it Poison Ivy or Virginia Creeper?

Is it Poison Ivy or Virginia Creeper? A very important question! If you don't know the answer you could end up with quarter-sized blisters that ooze, burn and itch, like these:

Poison Ivy blisters

 

 

Yikes! Nobody wants that, right? The two plants can appear to be similar at first glance, especially in the middle of summer when they are both growing like crazy. In fact, they do have a couple of similarities: both can be found as a vine climbing trees, etc., and both can appear as a small shrub or growing along the ground.
But there are three good ways to tell them apart.

The first way is by looking at the leaves. The Virginia Creeper has leaves in groups of five, with finely-toothed edges.  Poison Ivy leaves are in groups of three, with irregular teeth, and tend to be shiny.

Virginia Creeper

Poison Ivy 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Secondly, Virginia Creeper is held in place by small, branching tendrils, and Poison Ivy has a woody vine that looks like a hairy snake! The Poison Ivy vine is really visible in winter, when there are no leaves to hide it.

The third way to tell is in mid to late summer when the berries form. Virginia Creeper has a bluish-black berry that resembles a small grape. Poison Ivy has smaller, whitish berries that hang in clusters.

Both plants provide food for wildlife. Neither the leaves or berries of Poison Ivy seem to have any negative effects on animals. But humans need to stay away from the plant. It's not that difficult to tell them apart, just make sure you don't get too close while you're looking!

Adding layers

I am frequently asked "How is the mural coming along?" My usual answer is "It's coming right along". And it is. At a steady pace. A nice unfolding. A little each week. Here are some examples of the latest additions:

mama bear sketch

Completed mama bear

Mama bear was very fun to finish. Layers of thin color put on with choppy strokes gave her coat depth and made her look shaggy. I'm very pleased with the way she came out.

I had spent a few weeks over in the "bear corner", and even though there is still more work to be done there, like finishing the turtle and the possums, I felt like I needed to pull back and look at the bigger picture once again. So I moved over to the center portion of the wall, and started adding new stuff there.

Center wall

 You have already seen sketches of the raccoon, bobcat, domestic cat, copperhead snake and kingfisher. Now you can see them in relation to the landscape, with more trees and plants sketched in too. There is the outline of a  hickory tree in the foreground, which will be home to some songbirds and a native vine, a twiggy little dogwood tree, the skeleton of a cinnamon fern, and the cardinal plant, so named for it's bright red flowers, which will be added later. There are more plants and details to be added to this section, but it's starting to fill out nicely.

Probably the most important improvement is the addition of the layer of hills in the background. Right now they are just a wash of green, but already they make the foreground pop out.

I have never seen a beaver, but I've seen lots of evidence that they live here. It's amazing how quickly they can gnaw through a tree trunk. You can be hiking one day and there is a healthy tree, and the next day it's chomped almost all the way through! I keep thinking that someday I'll actually see the beaver. Sometimes the damage is so fresh looking I swear the beaver is hiding somewhere nearby laughing at me. But for now I guess I'm just happy that they are here, so I have included a couple of beaver-chewed stumps in the mural.

Beaver-chewed stumps

I'm not sure what's coming next, but I've been thinking about where I'm going to put the vulture I had to take out earlier. Maybe on the hill behind the stream. And I need to get all the hills sketched in more firmly before I start to define the trees more. Maybe I'll put in some turkeys, since Thanksgiving is coming. They aren't on the list but I have a great shot of some turkeys running up a hill. I keep telling myself that if I don't stop adding things to the mural that aren't on the list that I'm going to run out of time and space. But there is still plenty of time, and nothing is looking crowded or forced yet, so I'll just keep going!

More flora and fauna

We're smack in the middle of fall here in central Virginia but I'm still thinking about flowering plants and trees in their summer plumage. Not that I don't love fall, I do! But the mural is a depiction of the fullness of summer.
Every time I went for a walk or saw something I thought "Oh, I've got to add that!", so the list of plants and animals has grown. I've been concentrating on one corner for a while, and am very pleased with the way it is starting to look. It's one thing to see it sketched out or have an idea in my head, but it's really great when the spaces begin to get filled in with form and color and things start coming to life.

Rufous-sided Towhee

I love it when I am surprised by a Rufous-sided Towhee scratching around in the leaf litter.

Here is the Towhee again, with the soon to be completed mama bear and chipmunk, with the Virginia Willow, the Cutleaf Coneflower, and the Southern Lady Fern.

Soon I will add details to the hollow log, and flesh out the chipmunk and the pile of baby possums.

Also in the works is a Piliated Woodpecker.

This is the completed Belted Kingfisher on his perch (not yet detailed) overlooking the stream.

And here is the basic stream bank, without any plants added yet. What looks like the horizon is really just the opposite stream bank as it curves around. There will be plants and some beaver-gnawed tree trunks there to define the contour.
That's it for now!

A big step forward.

Yesterday I was alone with the mural. For three whole hours! Not completely alone; the turtle, bearded dragon, and a few other creatures that inhabit the nature center were there to keep me company. For a variety of reasons, it had been a while since I had gone to work on the mural. The room had been temporarily unavailable, there was an earthquake, then a hurricane, then one of my beagles got really sick...just a series of things that made staying home seem like the right thing to do.

Driving over there with all my stuff, I knew that, since camp was over, there wouldn't be any kids around.  I was looking forward to some quiet time and getting a lot done. There can be a social aspect to painting, but for me it is mostly a solitary activity. I do my best work when I can give it my full attention. So I went into the room, turned on the lights, and looked at the mural. It only took a moment for her to speak to me.

"You're here!" she said.
"Yes, I'm glad to be back. What shall we work on today? Maybe I'll put in the kingfisher or work on the copperhead" I replied.
She laughed, but she was firm when she said "Oh, no you won't! Just sit down and spend some time with me, and I'll tell you what I need".
I hesitated, knowing that it had been a while since I'd worked, and really wanting to "get something done". But I agreed to sit, just for a minute.
"What about all the plants?" she asked. "It's fine for you to detail a bird or two, but I think you could make some important progress if you skipped the details for now and looked at the bigger picture."
"Hmmm....." I mused. "Maybe you're right."

And she was right. Aside from the trees, I had only chosen a few other plants and needed many more to make the mural full and complete. What were they, and where would they fit? I knew I needed shrubs, flowers, and grasses. It was time to get out the reference books and take a look.

I buried myself in the books with great results. Just to name a few, the Virginia Creeper will go on the Mockernut Hickory tree along with the holes made by a yellow-bellied sapsucker. Poison Ivy will go on the Tulip Poplar. The Southern Lady fern will give shade to the chipmunk, and the Cardinal flower will not only give a great splash of color, but it will provide food for the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly and the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The Virginia Willow has a delicate white flower, and the Twisted Sedge and Appalachian Bluet will fill the nooks and crannies among the rocks on the stream banks.  It was a cross between planning a garden and working on a jigsaw puzzle, and I loved it. The three hours flew by, and look how much I got done without even lifting a paintbrush! I am feeling newly inspired.

There aren't any photos of this part of the work, so I will leave you with a photo of a large painting I did a couple of years ago. This painting was also a "jigsaw puzzle" of sorts, the different sized and colored pieces needed to fit together perfectly to make it work. The main difference is that the mural is realistic and this painting, my version of the Tree of Life, is pure fantasy.

Tree of Life, 24x36, acrylic on canvas

Steady Pace

It's been a while since my last post, but that doesn't mean I haven't been working on the mural. I was hoping to finish the water, get it photographed, and then do a post, but it took me a lot longer to finish the water than I thought, and I'm still working on it. I am building the shoreline as well, and will have pics hopefully next week.

The ed center is being used for other purposes for a few days, so I can't really get in there to work, but it gives me a chance to reflect and plan. I get excited when I walk into the room now, and see it growing day by day. Working on the images close to the ground is tough. I have to sit on a low stool or on the ground and hunch over. Many times I'm thinking about how much it hurts instead of what I'm doing. I'm looking forward to working my way up, so I can work standing, or at least sitting in an upright position. I'll be able to do longer days that way.

It's been fun working while camp was in progress, seeing all the kids enjoying themselves, and getting to know some of the counselors too. Camp ends this week, and it will be a different experience when I get back in there next. A lot quieter, for sure!

For now I will leave you with a before and after picture. The Great Blue Heron is the first creature I have done detail work on. While the sketch takes a few minutes to put on the wall (not counting the initial sketching time and prep work), adding the details takes several hours. I will go through this process with everything in the mural.

Great Blue Heron sketch

Great Blue Heron detail