The Progress of this Mural

This is a mural I did for an elementary school auditorium. It measures approximately 60' x 6' 6". The principal wanted an Arts theme centered around those arts found in the city of Louisville, since that is where the school is located, so I looked to the Louisville Ballet, the Kentucky Opera, Actor's Theatre, and the Louisville Orchestra for inspiration. Most of the figures you see are composites. I would look at between 2-4 photographs, for reference, to draw and paint each figure. The school colors are a deep green so I used a lot of that in the background.

Before I get started, my adjustable Bil-Jax scaffolding, awaiting.

Applying a tinted, high adhesive primer. I like to start from a middle tone, this time grey.

Starting to draw out the figures, I use a grid method and prismacolor pencils. They don't tend to mix with the paint, however, some colors I've used have bled through after I've applied a sealer.

With the style of painting I was doing here, I went ahead and outlined my figures in black and started to paint them in. The kids really enjoyed seeing them come to life.

More and more of the figures coming out of the wall. I was struggling to find the right skin tone on the female cello player.

Moving right along, you'll notice I hadn't yet drawn in the far left of the mural. My original sketch didn't quite work once I got on the wall and I was still trying to figure out what to fit into that area.

Well, I still hadn't figured out what to do with that far left part of the mural and all of my other figures were painted so it was time to start painting in the background.

You get a general sense of the Louisville skyline just in shapes and colors but now I really need to figure out what I am doing to the left.

So I add some actors and the conductor. They aren't looking right quite yet.

But finally after about 5 weeks the mural is complete. The kids really enjoyed getting to watch me paint and I so enjoyed being able to bring this to their school. Now here are some detail shots.

It was fun, but I was happy to be finished.

I just finished applying some plaster to a series of six columns throughout this home to give them more of an old world look. I applied thin layers of 4 different tinted plasters in three coats and then put a ceramic matte sealer over the plaster to get the look.

Some More Murals

My most recent work. A lot of cracks and crumbles. A slight under-estimation of time on my part.
The hometown team logo in a basement exercise room.

I had done a smiling sun for a couple several years ago for their boy. They wanted a girl version for their new daughter.

For a boy who loves Hot Wheels!

New Murals

Finally, posting some more of the work that has been keeping me busy the past few months. This first one is for a girl's bedroom.

A very tricky space to paint in. This is a deeply curved niche that got a custom non-figurative painting with lots of metallic paint and a plaster base coat.

A giant teddy bear eating some ice cream.
A map for a nursery.

A ceiling inspired by the ceilings at the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

Long Time, No Post

It has been a really, really long time since I have posted anything but I have not been idle. I thought I would share some of the projects I have been busy with instead of blogging.

The first is a metallic silver faux finish for a master bedroom I did several months ago. It has a layer of plaster and then various paints and metallic glazes over that.

An Arts themed mural in an elementary school auditorium. It measures about 60' by 6' 6". I have a lot of progress and detail pics I will try to post soon.

A happy tree with a happy little squirrel eating ice cream in a nursery.
A mural for a home theater. The figures aren't quite caricatures but close. The client wanted it a little more fun than a straight up representation.
That's it for now. I have a few more things that I've done to show. I will try to be more regular about posting. Thanks!

2 weeks, 3 murals and a faux finish

So it's been awhile since I've posted anything. I've been incredibly busy getting ready for Homearama, a home show put on by the Louisville Home Builder's Association. There are ten homes in the show this year and I painted murals in two of them. Due to the circumstances of working in the show I had two weeks to complete three murals and to faux finish a dining room ceiling. It took 170 hours to complete all of the projects. It was a long two weeks. The sports mural is about 28' by 9'. The graffiti wall is 14' by 8' and the Navy SEAL is about 10' x 6'. The show started this weekend so its been nice to hear everyone's comments. I still need to get some better photos but here is what I have so far. Enjoy. As always you can see more of my work at stiversart. Below you can see progress of the murals.

Sketckbook

Here are some sketches for a possible mural for a boy's room. It is a very big room and the plan is to paint some trees, bugs, lizards, and other assorted boyish things around the room with these boys being the focus.

Check out other children's artists sketchbooks at http://etsychildrensartstreetteam.blogspot.com/2010/06/sketchbook-sunday.html

Etsy Children's Art Street Team

A couple of months ago another Etsy seller, Lisa from Bumblejack, and I started discussing the idea of forming a group of Etsy artists making children's or storybook art. We've finally got the team rolling with a great group of artists and are really excited about what we have planned. We are still waiting on confirmation from Etsy to be an official "team" but we are moving ahead with our plans anyway. It's taken up a lot of time lately so I haven't been posting much here. Make sure you check out our team blog at http://etsychildrensartstreetteam.blogspot.com/

Check often we have a lot of fun things planned as well as some great promotions you won't want to miss.

Thanks!

The pirate raid continues....

One more pirate complete. My original plan was to only paint the four but there are two more drawn out and they sit there, staring at me, looking all sad without paint on their face. So, maybe one more.

The Pirates keep coming...

One more Pirate finished. I have one more that is nearly complete and two others that I have drawn but I'm not sure if I'll paint them or not. I may go back to the Astronaut paintings for a bit to keep from being bored. I have many sketches and faux-finishing samples I'm preparing for prospective clients so things are fairly busy at the moment. I would like to be able to wrap up the astronaut series before I get into my busy period but knowing me that's probably not going to happen.

Another Pirate...

It's so nice working small. I've been doing this long enough to realize that it's more about the process than the product but it feels good to just get something done every now and then. I finished this guy up last night. Captain Droopystache.

Pirates!

In an attempt to feel productive I went back to working on the 5" x 7" pieces of wood I have laying around. I had some sketches of some pirates I had done while prepping for a mural a while back that I wanted to work with so I did a few more sketches and then got to painting. Here is the first. A salty first mate who I haven't named yet. You can see the mural I did that inspired this little series below and more of it here.

Painting, not Posting

So it's been a little bit since I've posted anything. I've been trying to finish up a couple different projects that I finally wrapped up today. First up is a window mural I did for Shiraz Mediterranean Grill. I actually finished the painting a couple of weeks ago but just got back there tonight to photograph and seal it. It covers the backside of a menu that they have facing the street so they aren't losing any view by having me paint over their window. They wanted to continue the view of the street but in a more stylized painterly fashion which I think I was able to do. It is a small mural but it has a big impact. If you are ever in Louisville, check out the Frankfort Ave. location, to see the mural in person.

Next we have a painting of My Old Kentucky Home, which has taken a very long time to get around to finishing. This was actually supposed to be a Christmas present to my parents and then I was hoping to have it finished by Mother's Day. Well, I almost made Mother's Day. Better late than never. They loved it, or at least they acted like they did.

I also got around to painting over the astronaut's rocket. I think it helps the boy pop from the composition more and the subdued tones work better with the other "nighttime" works that I've done. I also think I've figured out how to do the other two pieces in this series and am well into the second piece.

As always you can see more of my murals at www.stiversart.com

and you can purchase prints at Moany and Lalla's.