Journal Record Article-7-18-2009

Kathryn Hirschfeld did a wonderful job on the piece. I appreciate the mural getting the recognition and helping Guin.

Updated photos of blocking in WW1 and added shadowing

The new scene was approved and pushing forward with the trench war scene with soldiers with gas mask.

Over all shot showing composition. When I take these photos I study them on my TV to help plan the next day.

Working on Civil War Tribute

Today was challenging due to the heat and confined quarters with the rose bushes. I also found that the wheels and hubs to be difficult. The wheels are askew ed and the spokes were tricky to achieve the correct perspective.

After blocking in the scene with the pageant Blue I decided the scale needed to be enlarged. In this shot you can see the start of the new scale with the Elephant Grey.

7-21-09

Tribute to WW2- A rendition of the monument in Washington D.C. of Iwa Jima. Today I worked on more shadowing and added a shaded flag. I used Pageant song to create a haze and plan to fade it more into the Renderious blue once the composition is lay ed out more .

WW1 tribute- A rendition of a Airplane. This time period is when the Air Force split from the Army Air Core. After much thought and consideration I purposed to Mayor Segraves to change this subject matter. I have done some additional research and feel a trench war scene will portray this War more appropriately. I plan to sketch a scene with soldiers in gas mask for the City Board to approve. I think the change is also more in line with the other tributes. They all will have soldiers portrayed. I might add a plane in the distance.

Civil War Tribute- A scene of Three soldiers loading a cannon. The shadowing and shading will be done with the same shades as Iwa Jima tribute. I enlarged the scene from the original sketch due to the large rose bushes. There is more to transferring points to get the proportion correct. When one area is altered , It is important to consider the whole composition. Enlarging the Civil War scene makes it necessary to enlarge the others to keep the whole scene balanced. I am also being careful to not crowd the scenes which would make the whole work confusing and loose the flow.

7 days in

I'm so pleased with the Eagle's stern look.

Day 5 was spent detailing the eyes and beak. I used Golden glow for the eye, and beak color. the shadow was done with elephant grey and abby white. the shadowing in the eyes and beak were with caval brown and light touches of black magic.

Day 4 detailing of the left wing.

Project notes for the first 3 days

I want to thank all the individuals for sharing there kind words on the progress. I truly appreciate the confidence the town has given me.

This is the largest mural thus far and much more time is needed in blocking in the base colors. For those following the blog.....just wait...the shadowing and detailing are going to really make the design.

Tyring out a new sprayer I lay ed in the brown- (Carvel brown). I was unhappy with the coverage and went back to trusty brushes. The sprayer would save time, but with the rough surface I am more confident with the 2" and 1" brushes.

After studying and checking measurement from the previous night, I discovered I lost 4' on the right wing. (Lost in the night) I corrected the error and the balance and the wing spread is now much more appealing.

Day 2- Thursday 7-2-09 Temp was around 98 degrees and the heat index was around 102. I spent some of the afternoon transferring measurements from my drawing to the wall. I decided to come back in the evening and try working at night. This was more comfortable but the lights made it difficult to mark with the shadowing. The bricks are in good shape but much of the mortar is missing. Painting by lights at night was difficult to insure complete coverage. I also discovered in plotting out my design that some revisions are necessary. The area where the depiction of the Civil War is to be located has beautiful roses planted in front of it. Enlarging the design will balance under the left wing.

Feeling a little odd covering the previous design "We Support our Troops", I felt it necessary to put in extra time before the July 4 Th holiday. I stayed until 11:30 p.m. to paint the Eagles head and top part of his wings. This was enough to give a clue to the community who may have not seen the design to know what was about to happen on this 74' wall.

Day 1 was spent getting the work area prepared. The wall has a large flower bed in front of it and the ground I'm working on is mulch. This is a little problematic due to the fact this wall will be done off ladders. I tried placing pallets and plywood over the sprinkler head to make for a stable foundation.

This photo shows the pallets at the base of the wall

The primer used is Zinser-Bulls-eye 1-2-3. It is a great primer with wonderful coverage. I had it tinted a light grey to make the colors that will be covering it warmer. This also helps with glare since the wall is in full sun.