Move Over Orange...

My computer-generated rendering that demonstrates approximately how the finished mural will appear.

...there's a red that wants to meet you!

A pail of red glaze all ready for application. The acrylic pigment is very concentrated and for my purposes must be diluted to a semi-transparent state for glazing over the original orange glaze. All of the subsequent glazes yet to come will be similarly transparent/translucent so that in the end all of the global glazes will retain their power while interacting in varying degrees with their fellow glazes..one big happy family of co-existing hues in a full-spectrum tonal analysis.

Even with the addition of just the second ( of a total of about 10-12 glazes at least) the red glaze, you can see how the forms immediately start to pop.

Rolling down the plank rail in front of the mural with paint-brushes flying...

A good day's work gets me to about the half-way point of the 80' wall.

Dennis Sather caught me up on the scaffold just as I was getting close to finishing the eighty-foot pass with the red glaze at the eight foot level.

The 'skyline' begins to appear as the red glaze is completed at the horizon.

The same thing from a different perspective that favors the right-hand side of the mural.

Living in an Orange World

My computer-generated rendering that demonstrates approximately how the finished mural will appear.

 I guess delayed gratification is a fact of life when glazing a mural of this scale. I will not switch to my next glaze color (that would be red) until the preliminary orange glaze is pretty much finished on the first big chunk of the 'forever YOUNG' mural. According to my painting methodology, which has been honed over about 30 years of creating large-scale murals and hundreds of easel paintings, the specific order of glazes is something not to be trifled with. I know  the rich full-spectrum glazing  technique gets the best results, and a big part of this depends on exercising the self-discipline to stick with the program and not be overly hasty to arrive at the finishing or 'native' colors.

When applied judiciously, the so-called 'full-spectrum glazing  technique' results in a very warm, inviting continuity that offers brilliant 'back-lit' flesh tones that appear to glow from within; as well, deep rich shadows that feature mesmerizing variety and nuanced visual depth that is extremely satisfying to the eye.


More important, the 'full-spectrum glazing  technique' offers an opportunity to the 'mind's eye' to explore the artistic vision far beyond the mere representational imagery. The technique becomes part and parcel of the holistic visual and aesthetic experience. You can imagine that this is especially true in a work of this scale.

Let there be light!

  

I'm living in an orange world, overlaid on a golden field...

I realized that working off a step ladder would be quicker on the lower portion than moving the scaffold across the wall. It's a long way to go with a scaffold in tow.

Now you can plainly see there is another eight feet of height yet to go. Before this happens, the top twelve by eighty feet will be pretty much finished. Can you imagine what this will look like with another 10-12 glazes? I can!

 

The Glaze Goes On...Work Continues w 'forever YOUNG' Mural

The computer-generated mock-up of 'about' how the finished mural will appear shows the scale. Note the tiny adult human on the lower right-hand corner. He stands 5 '10".

These captions are short and straight to the point. Once I feel I have a bit more breathing space, I will go into more detail about the thought and process that is invested in a project of this scale. There are other adjunct stories that tie into the project as well...stay tuned.

It's a new day. The scaffold stands ready for mounting with painting in mind.

The scaffold stage is lowered to the six-foot level in readiness for the next eighty-foot pass.

Fast forward about five hours as I make my way across eighty feet of glazing the next six foot wide swath of orange glaze.

You can see forms ( that would be a team of four oxen ) already emerging from out of the golden-hued background tint.

Shot from across the arena in the score-keepers box.

Before I stopped for the day, the scaffold was rolled back in position on the far left-hand side in preparation for the next pass.

Brushing on the 1st Eighty-Foot Length

The computer-generated mock-up of 'about' how the mural will look...

As with any other 'north-paw' painting, no matter what the scale, I begin with the upper left-hand corner.

On a mural of this scale, it is advisable to stay organized. This means executing successive passes across the expanse of the wall while working on 'global' glazes. The process will not be micro-managed; rather, every glaze will be completed through the full-spectrum tonal study before finally arriving at the 'native' colors. This bears repeating as the temptation is to simply paint, for instance, a 'blue sky' which if laid in at this early stage would look flat and tepid in comparison to the rich, vibrant effect that is only achievable by multiple translucent glazes. About thirty-odd years and over 60 large murals has taught me never to rush into a native color, as it a recipe for mediocrity and dullness in my view.

Taking a quick breather on the relentless march across the wall.

You can clearly see even at this early stage that the idea of separating the light from the dark with the first glaze picks out the objects which will eventually make up a very high-contrast horizon. As I spend time with brush in hand, ideas begin to crystallize in my mind about the 'concept' of the mural. It is not always possible to visualize 'big enough' when planning a project of this scale on paper until one is confronted with the reality of experiencing it first-hand.

Making my way down the eighty-foot runway in front of the mural.

Although after a few more passes the novelty is bound to wear a bit thin, I wanted to capture a play-by-play of the first trek across the (somewhat) daunting eight-foot length of the 'forever YOUNG' mural.

You can see the forms emerging...

 After I touched the extreme far end of the wall with paint on my first pass, the scaffold was rolled back into position at the right-hand side in readiness for the next go at it.

All set for the next painting day.

The next step will be to lower the staging of the scaffold to the six-foot height to paint the next swath in rich orange.

Painting the Beast: 'forever YOUNG' mural fired up!

Mock-up shows the scale of the finished mural-to-be.

Applying the first few strokes of rich orange glaze.

After an intense week of construction, I was in a position to get started on what I love best: mural-painting. As usual, I have primed the strata a warm golden-flesh tone to begin. I work in the old European technique of laying down perhaps 12-15 transparent to translucent layers in a full-spectrum tonal study before applying the 'native' colors. My first step is to differentiate between light and dark by applying a warm orange glaze to 'everything dark or shaded'.

I don't mess around once I start painting. There's a LOOONG way to go!

Feeling good to be underway after all the prep work. Delayed gratification ain't all it's made out to be.

Starting off at the upper left-hand corner.

There will ultimately be dozens of passes on the rolling scaffold as the transparent glazes are systematically laid in. I will be applying 'global' glazes, meaning ALL of each glaze will be completed before moving on to the next color. So yeah, the sky will remain orange for quite some time! This is not a process that can be rushed.

When I paint a mural on this scale, I like to stay organized, working methodically from the upper left-hand corner and across the expanse of the wall to the right.

When working on a mural of this scale, I have to stay organized with a long-term plan of attack. There is not a whole lot of random painting that goes on, especially when laying in the foundation of the piece. This may surprise you (or not) but I apply precisely the same methodology to a piece on this scale as I would with an easel painting. I won't go into detail here, you will see as the days and weeks go by how it systematically evolves.

Day 1 of painting yields a good result.

Before I move on to the second glaze, all of the rich orange will be applied to begin the laborious process of separating light from dark. 

Speeding up the Prep...Delayed Gratification is Over-Rated.

We were really happy to build the scaffolding and press it into service on plank rails in front of the wall.

Every ambitious community project needs a local champion. Lil Sather is exactly that. Lil has been a vocal proponent of this world-scale project out of small town Saskatchewan for over two years. It was Lil Sather who made the initial contact with me before the Village of Young Centennial in 2010.

Sherwin powered the panels up the wall with a lift assist from me to balance the bottom on the lip of the bottom row, then we would co-ordinate pinning the panel in place with a minimum number of screws.

Sherwin affixing panels at ground level in a systematic manner to maximize results while minimizing handling of the heavy pieces.

Aerial view of the scaffold set up on the left-hand side of the first 3/5ths of surface. What you see is the eighty-foot by sixteen-foot upper portion of the mural per se. There will be an additional eight feet of height beneath for a total of eighty feet by twenty feet.

The Zimboni which was earlier rolled out of its usual storage shop makes a convenient book-end to prop up panels against for easy later access at stage right.

A good afternoon's painting...application of the signature golden flesh-toned primer. Peace out till next time...there WILL be mural-painting soon now that this phase of prep is finished. 

Prep work continues with 'forever YOUNG' mega-mural

The computer-generated mock-up of 'about' how the mural will look...

Two Young residents graciously agreed to help Sherwin and I to erect the remainder of the temporary frame that will hold the panels as they are being painted inside the rink.

We erected the first 16' x 16' section ourselves and we nearly bust our guts. It was so much faster and easier with the extra couple sets of hands. Many hands makes light work!

The first phase of designing, building and erecting the frame is completed! 

After a quick coffee break it was time to start with the installation of the first set of 4' x 8' panels.

We built a 'leveling ledge' that received the first row of panels oriented to the horizontal.

Keeping things in perspective...you can see that the sight line shows a nice set of parallel lines.

Now it's time to build the scaffold in front of the temporary frame in order to install the next row of panels.

The second row of panels is oriented to the vertical format. This is to create a 'brick' or staggered pattern so that there is not a repetition of seams in alignment, though admittedly the seams are merely a hairline crack which will be invisible from a distance.

Good night Ralph. Good night Ralph.