Today's posting is about the mural Danny and Linda Peterson asked me to paint on the wall of their casita in Los Barriles, Baja Sur this winter. We talked about what they had in mind and I did a small watercolor after measuring the wall. Danny particularly wanted a tall coco palm and Linda loves Bird of Paradise flowers. Mexican style pots were part of the plan. After we agreed upon the basic design Linda and I went to town to pick up the paint. We wanted 5 cans and the store had enough base for 3. They promised to have more base in two days and they did. This is a small town! I made "patterns' of the vases to be sure we had a visually pleasing size that fit together. I painted the big vase first, then added the Bird of Paradise. Next I did the middle vase and leaves for the flowers. Filling the small pot with flowers was a fun effort, using red and yellow for the flowers and adding little leaves in green. The end pot was a challenge because we wanted a mottled look... a big sponge did the trick and I added some painted walking sticks to complete the total vase part of the mural. I was able to paint the trunk of the coco tree while standing on the floor under the palapa. However, to finish the fronds, Danny found a tall ladder for me to stand on. It worked great and gave me great access to the span of wall. This was my first big outdoor wall mural and I had a great time doing it. Murals are common here in Los Barriles; there is only one neon sign in the whole town that I can think of. The Petersons mural is under their palapa and not in direct sunlight. It should last a long time! One of my goals for this winter was to do much more painting than I have winters passed. And I have done a lot of paintings this winter; this project, while a different medium (acrylic waterbased paints) and much bigger, was still painting in it's best sense of the word. To make a plan, a drawing and execute it is the basis of any painting - well, I think it is most of the time anyway. I hope you are planning and executing your own plan for fun and satisfaction! Happy Trails.....
Today's posting is about the mural Danny and Linda Peterson asked me to paint on the wall of their casita in Los Barriles, Baja Sur this winter. We talked about what they had in mind and I did a small watercolor after measuring the wall. Danny particularly wanted a tall coco palm and Linda loves Bird of Paradise flowers. Mexican style pots were part of the plan. After we agreed upon the basic design Linda and I went to town to pick up the paint. We wanted 5 cans and the store had enough base for 3. They promised to have more base in two days and they did. This is a small town! I made "patterns' of the vases to be sure we had a visually pleasing size that fit together. I painted the big vase first, then added the Bird of Paradise. Next I did the middle vase and leaves for the flowers. Filling the small pot with flowers was a fun effort, using red and yellow for the flowers and adding little leaves in green. The end pot was a challenge because we wanted a mottled look... a big sponge did the trick and I added some painted walking sticks to complete the total vase part of the mural. I was able to paint the trunk of the coco tree while standing on the floor under the palapa. However, to finish the fronds, Danny found a tall ladder for me to stand on. It worked great and gave me great access to the span of wall. This was my first big outdoor wall mural and I had a great time doing it. Murals are common here in Los Barriles; there is only one neon sign in the whole town that I can think of. The Petersons mural is under their palapa and not in direct sunlight. It should last a long time! One of my goals for this winter was to do much more painting than I have winters passed. And I have done a lot of paintings this winter; this project, while a different medium (acrylic waterbased paints) and much bigger, was still painting in it's best sense of the word. To make a plan, a drawing and execute it is the basis of any painting - well, I think it is most of the time anyway. I hope you are planning and executing your own plan for fun and satisfaction! Happy Trails.....
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