May 7, 2009 ....

I am very close to finishing. The Guin Mayfest is this week-end and I'm taking today (Fri) to gather gourd goodies for the show. I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day.

White washed with Garlic Clove at and angle added the glare to show glass.

To help with the illusion of stepping back in time, I added an oil lamp, ledger and ink-well. I have to say that these where done by my memory and no photos where used for reference.

Detailing of the Right window took 7 hours today. The addition of a coat rack (with hat and coat), photos, and wooden chairs.

I added this photo for Mother's Day coming up this Sunday. This is an old-fashion tea rose my Step-Daughter..."Daughter" gave me on my birthday 3 years ago. This is the fullest I've ever seen it.

I had to add a photo of our new cook-ware. My Husband is awarded safety points at work and we where able to cash in on new Rachel Ray cook ware. I'm proud of him for his dedication to safety. Tommy made omelets last night in the skillet and he loves the new toys.
I also want to leave a little note to my buddy Kay.....I love the plate ya'll gifted me...notice it made it to the counter..he he

5-5-09

The overall building after day 17. I believe the hours thus far are around 125.

This morning I visited with Bobby Page for a little photo shoot. Bobby Page means allot to me and I wanted to add him to the loan office here. I attempted to step back in time to visualize the surrounding in the 1900's. I'm planning to add desk accessories to contribute to the period too. Once I've finished accessorizing there will be a glare added to the window pains.

A closer shot of the door bolt.

The addition of brass kick plates and the bolt at the bottom of the door where also added.

I used golden glow to highlight the door hardware to resemble brass.

Today I started with some details. This photo shows the brass plate in the center of the door way. This is for the locks.

The start of Week 3-4-28

In case those that are following the blog where wondering....Tommy has been having fun while I've been at the wall. He he he

Tuesday was spent adding the wood flooring. More shading is to come.

The victorian dressed teller is gazing down as if in tought. The brick and grout lines are difficult to poprtions to face features. At 4:30, when the shade is lost to direct sun, She does seen to have a cleft palett.

Monday the tellers where added along with more shading to the teller desk.

Sunday was spent detailing the teller desk. shading the details of the woodwork took quite a bit of time. A gentleman from Moline IL came by today and took photos. He pulled out his GPS and logged the coordinates for the mural here and at the arches. He informed me of http://www.waymarking.com/. He will be adding the murals to this site. I was very excited about this.

Week Two of Bank Mural

Behind the tellers, a hint of an Victorian urn painting. I thought the addition would add to the period piece. It is challenging and fun to try and step back in time to imagine the setting in the 1900's.

The two tellers will be shadowed with hints of color. The goal of the project is to make the painting appealing from street side. (not 2' away)

The desk is penciled in and I plan to have it blocked in today. (Sunday 4-26)

The irregular arch was challenging. The third time is a charm. There were a series of paint a section....climb off the scaffoling....study...climb up cover up ....sketch again....climb down and study. The scale of the lettering was also a series of the same.

Flint grey was used and outlined in black magic. You can also see the roller shade on the right door that was added on Friday.

I believe I had a few worried with the addition of bewitched in the doorway. I wanted to give the colors chosen for the part a richer tone. The black magic was a base to change the colors to look differently than they would with the white primer beneath.

Climbing on the roof..( from the back of Tommy's barber shop) I painted upside down, leaning over the tar paper edge to complete the areas I could not reach with the scaffolding. I was going to wait to a later time to do this, but it was bothering me. I didn't like looking up at the uneven line.

The front section has the illusion of being taller and fading back over the center. This is different then the original drawing but I thought the effect would be understated and interesting.

The open front doors are classic brown with the edge of oyster shell

Shutters are Hat box Brown. I used Bewitched and sauteed Mushroom for the shading of the shutter louvers.

Day 2-5 Bank Mural

Day 2- 4-14-09

It started off very chilly. I believe the temp was around 45 degrees. I penciled in the building lines and measured out for the vanishing point. I used my eye height 5-3 and centered it. This is the point where the walls will fade back to give the illusion of being recessed. When the temp was around 54 degrees I started to brush the colors of Stonington and gravel. I was planning to use my sprayer for this but the wind gust would not allow.

The paints being used are from Mc Cluskey's lumber. I selected Pittsburg Paint Sun Proof Exterior House paint. It is 100 % Acrylic Latex. I love the full body creaminess of the paint. most colors have great coverage in one coat.
The first blocking of color was Stonington.

Day 2

Twinkle Blue was used for the inset of sky. It is a light color and matched the sky to a t at different times of the day. I wanted a light color to just give the hint of the building being shorter.

Day 3

I changed the moulding form the original drawing. The building owner had expressed how she would like for the Stone at the front to be part of the design. I choose to continue the moulding across. I used Oyster shell shadowed with flint with splashes of shark skin and garlic clove. The original sketch had a large 2 foot moulding. I think the change blends right in.

Day 5

This was taken at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. I like the angle of the shot. You can see the 1st mural (Arches) in the background.

Day 1- Bank Mural

Day 1 4-9-09
I spent a few hours with a side grinder gently passing over the flaking paint from the insurance sign. I want to thank the city workers of Guin for doing a fantastic job of preping the wall. Roger Gann took extra time to caulk some areas and presure wash debri to get the wall ready for me.

Thanks again for you help!

I used Zinsser bulls-eye 1-2-3 primer. It has sealed the wall to make the design go much smoother. It slicked up the wall and allowed for less paint to be used to get a great coverage.

Mural plans for Guin- (Bank)

Privately own building slotted for the next mural in Guin. Prep work began right after Christmas. The boards in the windows are being replaced with marine grade plywood and when the weather permits, the pressure washing and scraping will commence.

This is the revised proposed design for the building. It measures 41' in length and 20' in height. The design will reflect finishes used in the 1900's. Gas lanterns on either side of the door and detailed moldings are two examples. The plaque on top of the door will read; Marion County Banking Company, Est. in 1903. The boarded windows will be painted to give the illusion of seeing inside the bank offices. small details of the backing of the drapes and drawers in the desk will be able to be seen. The center of the design will feature open doors within a one-point perspective recess. This will add dimension to the flat wall. (it is brick so it will be semi-flat)lol Within the doors the teller desk will show the detailed wood moldings used in the period.

Color selections where pulled from the stone from the existing stone used in the front. Splashes of wood tones and hints of color will be used in the windows and the door.

Another interesting note about the project, is the owner is now pursuing getting the First bank of Guin on the Historical registry for Alabama. The owner is also making the needed repairs to the building so it would be available for leasing.

Funding for this mural has already been establish and the design fee has been made. I will disclose once I have been gained permission to do so.

I'm excited about the project and I'm praying for warm weather to begin the transformation.