Mural Update

I thought I was done but not quite yet. One of the Mongolians who helps put together the exhibit came and asked if I would adjust one detail on the gers.

I had to make this...

...into this.

I apparently forgot the chimneys for them.  He also asked if I could add the ropes that go around the ger and across the roofs.  I said that would be no problem.

This is the only one I painted in like this. I just made it so there was a small hole in the top instead of a built up chimney like structure. Apparently they have both kinds.

Now I think it's done. But who knows? There are other emissaries coming so they may have differing opinions on my mural, too. We shall see.

Heroes & Friends

I used to be afraid of meeting people I admired out of a fear that when I met them, then they wouldn't live up to whatever huge ideal I had created in my own head. As I've gotten older I realize that people are people no matter what and if you live your life that way you will miss out on meeting some wonderful folks who make this planet much better for sharing it with you. I got to do just that today. I got to meet James Gurney and his lovely wife Jeanette.

 You will most likely know Mr. Gurney from his Dinotopia series of books.  Or from his many illustrations from National Geographic.  Or from about a hundred other equally impressive things.  He came through the southeast this week giving lectures at various schools and fortunately for me, one of them was in Atlanta right down the street from work.  SCAD Atlanta hosted the Gurneys (his wife is quite an accomplished artist, as well) and a group of three of us from the museum made the trip down Peachtree Street to hear the lecture.

And it is a great illustrated lecture.

This is the book that the lecture is a very short version of.  Basically, he tells you how to paint that which you can't see.  Everything from dragons and monsters to dinosaurs and cityscapes of ancient Rome.  I cannot recommend this talk enough if you are at all interested in art and the process.

When the first Dinotopia book came out I was in college and therefore missed it for twenty years.  I started following Mr. Gurney's blog last year and it is a HUGE source of information as well as inspiration.  In the course of reading his blog (http://www.gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/) I finally picked up the books and they completely re-define what "children's" literature can be.

I know I'm gushing but today really has been a great day.  No longer will I have a fear of meeting people I look up to and respect.  Both of them are ridiculously nice people.  I had sent a message through Facebook to Mr. Gurney several weeks ago to invite him to the museum if he had time.  He sent back a very nice response (politely NOT pointing out my schoolgirl fawning) saying he would love to if they had time and also a nice little note about art in general.  It was a very...serene...response.  Which sounds weird but that's the only description I can come up with.  Through that and his talent for teaching through his lectures and blog postings, I have decided to dub him "Art Yoda".  ("Art Buddha" seemed a little too...religious-ey.  Plus Yoda fits into the Imaginative Realism  theme we have going.)

(You can purchase their books from Amazon, but if you buy them off of their website, you have the option of getting signed copies.)

Fun With Camouflage

So I did this at work yesterday but I didn't want to add this to my mural posting. The head of IT asked me awhile back if I could paint over some wi-fi routers they were installing in the great hall. He wanted them to be hidden somewhat since they are white plastic boxes and would stand out quite a bit from the brick. I told him that wouldn't be a problem and he asked me Monday if I could go ahead and get that done for him.

After I got my hands on a lift and gathered my paint together, I turned this...

...into THIS.

And then I continued with the other two.

Before...

After...

Before...

After...

It was pretty fun, but it wasn't until I got to the third one that I realized I was exhausted from clenching the lift with my frikkin' toes! It kept wobbling and while I was painting I was subconsciously freaking out. Neat! But the best part is that the client (i.e. the head of IT) LOVED them. Always a plus when you can make the bosses happy.

Mural: Day DONE!

I was correct.  I was done.  But I got it cleaned up and it looks lovely with the ger pushed into place.  I really like the way it turned out.

So here is the long shot of the finished project...

More detail of the right side...

...and the left side...

I did tone down the glaring brightness of the green on the grass.  It was just too eye popping for my taste.  And I added some Przewalski's horses in the background of the thing.  I added them as they did NOT want my camel in the foreground, therefore I do NOT like them.  They are not part of my original idea and do not fit.  But they are okay.  And when I moved the ger, two of them got covered up.  HA!

However, when Trotter Khan wants his camel...

Trotter Khan GETS his camel.  (I didn't have a robe, but we did have some of the hats...NONE of which fit my gigantic head.  Still funny, though.)

Mural: Day 4

It would be "Mural: Last Day" but the boss was busy and we couldn't get a final judgement on whether or not it was done. But I think it is. I just haven't pulled off the painter's tape and pushed the ger back into place. Tomorrow then...

So here is what it looked like at day's end today.

Right side...

...and left side...

I should be able to get a final photo tomorrow and be done with this bad boy. Onward!

Mural: Day 3

...technically Day 2 1/2. I didn't spend ALL day working on the mural as I had regular paperwork and such to do but I did get a bit more covered. On we go...

First, here is a peek down the wall of the right side to show (sort of) how far back it goes.

And here is a more straight on view of the right side...

Down behind the left side...

And a more straight on view...

I may go over the grasslands bit with an umber wash because it turned out a touch too...electric green for my taste. I think a nice overlay of a light brown will tone it down just the right amount.

I also picked up paint for the clouds today so hopefully on Monday I will be done with this project. Again I am a lot happier with this than I thought I would be. I seemed to be concerned for nothing.

Mural: Day 2

Coming along...coming along...

Here is the left side...

...and the right side...

Hopefully I should have most of the grass done by tomorrow and maybe some of the clouds.  It is progressing MUCH faster than I thought.  I'm pretty pleased so far.

Mural: Day 1

So my design was approved and we are moving ahead with the mural!  (Well...MOST of the design.   Apparently there is some problem with my camel.  Don't ask.)

So today, I got the wall taped off and the drop cloths down and got down to business.  (See last post for the mock-up I did that is the basic design.)  Unfortunately, I didn't think of documenting until I already had the sky blue laid in.  Ah well, the best laid plans...

This is the left side...in front of the mural is a replica "ger" (think Mongolian tee-pee)  that our good friend Tim put together.

And below is the right side...

And then this last one is the last shot of the day.  I got the painted gers covered and started on the mountain range.

Hopefully I will be able to finish this by the end of the week, but cheese and crackers!  I am exhausted tonight.  Apparently climbing up and down ladders and standing up painting for eight hours is tiring.  Strange...

Mural Design

So at my day job, we are bringing in an exhibit on Genghis Khan.  This is going to be a very impressive exhibit with a lot of weapons and and tons of information about a very influential warrior.  Most violent Buddhist EVER!

But on the fun side for me is that in the store, we (and by "we" I mean "the guy in facilities named Tim") are putting together a replica ger (think Mongolian teepee and pronounced gair) and behind this we are hoping to put in a mural of life on the Mongolian steppes.

So I decided to whip up a quick little painting to get across the idea of what we have envisioned.  Okay, what I have envisioned...

And this is it.  It will probably be lengthened a bit as we started doing some measuring and getting a more definitive idea of what we need today but this is my overall idea to get us started.  This is a quick acrylic painting on illustration board.

How Much Is That Doggy In The Window?

Well, that doggy is 10 dollars plus 4 dollars for shipping and handling.

Send a message to the Paintmonkey's Facebook page if you're interested!