These clients have a wonderful wall for a mural. So they decided that in their living room they want a mural of a live oak tree with lots of Spanish moss. They decided to have their white living room painted a beautiful sky blue. This is the setting for the mural.
I started by sketching out the where the tree will be in chalk. I like using chalk since it is so easy to erase and make changes.
Then I painted in the grassy field that will be around the tree. I used the two doorways as a natural end for the image. I made sure to vary the values to give the illusion of depth to the field. I then added the distant tree line.
Next I began the tree. I usually start at the roots and work up, it seems to 'grow' better that way. I paint in the bark as I go. I call my style 'casual realism' . I feel that I capture a realistic illusion of the things I paint without getting too photo realistic in the process. I want the image to comfortable to live with - not fussy.
I am putting a very large tree on what is a large wall, but not as large as a real tree would be. So I will need to branch out the trunk pretty quickly. Once all of the branches are painted in, with leaves and Spanish moss, it will look very different. Also I will add a vine on the trunk and grasses at ground level. Right now it looks pretty stark, but that will change.
Next step will be to work on the branches and leaves.
No comments:
Post a Comment