Alice in Wonderland (progression)

It's time for Homearama, again, the annual home show put on by the Home Builder's Association of Louisville. This will be the tenth year I've painted murals for Homearama and the fifteenth different Homearama house. For this year I did an Alice in Wonderland themed playroom for Mastercraft Homes, Interior Design by Liz at Home. You can see the progression of the mural below. You can find more info about Homearama here. Thanks!

What I've been up to lately...

I've been busy with several projects lately, I've been painting for Homearama (I'm doing a Alice in Wonderland playroom, more on that later), I've been working a lot for Shiraz Mediterranean Grill (that's not ready to show yet), and I've done some other freelance work that I probably shouldn't show yet either but I have done some other very neat smaller murals that I can show you and here they are. Thanks. See more work at Stivers Art.

This boy was crazy about castles.

This little girl wanted a peaceful beach view she could wake up to every morning.

A fun nursery mural that picks up imagery from the bedding.

A foyer faux-finish.

A very cool way to personalize a child's room.

Daycare Mural

I had the opportunity to do some work for a local daycare recently. It was a fun job and the kids really enjoyed seeing the new mural.

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.