"Premiere Van Lines" Pick up Mural Panels...

Yesterday was a big day in my world.  About a week ago, I scheduled a pick-up with SGEU for "Premiere Van Lines" to come from Regina to pick up the painted panels...of the two murals for SGEU. I was just putting on the "finishing touches", so the firm date added a sense of urgency, you might say. Nothing like a deadline to get things done!

The friendly, professional Premiere Van Lines team arrived exactly on schedule.

In a world full of "OK" so-called "professionals", the team of movers rolled in exactly on schedule. After I plied them with a quick coffee, we settled in to deconstruct the second mural, which was still affixed to the temporary frame.

A reminder of the first mural of two...while it was still mounted.

By this time, I had already dismantled the first mural and had stacked it behind the temporary frame. The second mural was also finished and we needed to take it down to move it. I had mounted the panels with an absolute minimum of hardware, thinking ahead to the move.

The second (slightly larger) mural remained affixed to the frame until the day it was moved.

It was fast and easy to dismantle the second mural...there were only 2 or 3 screws holding the panel in place. So, coffee sipped, we were ready to get down to business.

Al and Tanya agreed to pose for a quick snapshot, for posterity.

I decided before the "Premiere VL" arrived to be conscientious about taking lots of photos of the process. I was happy that the team cheerfully agreed. This was an intense painting adventure for me, as I recognized right from the get-go that it is one of the most...if not THE most, important mural commissions in Saskatchewan this year. Remember, while the originals are destined to be permanently installed at SGEU's spanky new Headquarters in Regina...no mean feat in itself...but also, perhaps more important (in terms of high-profile visibility), the artwork will be dramatically enlarged to fully TWICE their original size and pressed into service as highway billboards at a "very high" traffic location. So, this...in the grand picture...is pretty astounding. You can rest assured that I will chronicling the whole trip!

Al wore his "The Art of Moving" shirt...very appropriate considering the task at hand!

I was deeply impressed with Al's "The Art of Moving" sweat-shirt, very fitting, don't you think, considering the task at hand! I specifically asked him to pose with the slogan on his back. He cheerfully complied...which I thought was pretty darn cool.

The movers brought lots of blankets along to protect the precious cargo.

I watched as Al and Tanya very methodically loaded and positioned each panel. They were very careful to make sure that there would be no issues with the panels getting scratched or damaged in any way. They thought ahead, and brought plenty of blankets to ensure a safe, uneventful trip.

I was really impressed with how extremely careful and respectful Al and Tanya were moving each panel.

If you look carefully at the above photo, you will see that after the panels came down off their frame, they  were never allowed to touch the ground, until they came to rest inside the truck. See? This panel is held free and clear of any contact with the gravel underfoot by being strategically positioned on the steel toes of each shoe under the left and right foot! Attention to detail much?

Tanya snapped a quick photo to show the dismantling in process.

 I thought it would be a nice touch to ask Tanya to snag a quick shot showing me wielding my cordless drill, in the act of dismantling a panel, down off its frame. Al helpfully stood by, holding the panel in place, lest it fall forward. 

Al agreed to stand with me just prior to loading the final panel on-board.

Just before they loaded and secured the last panel -the one on the far right of the second mural- into the truck, Al and I posed for one final picture. Thanks for doing this, Tanya! We made a special point to maintain the correct order of panels...in consideration of taking them of the truck for them to be photographed in Regina...with instructions to replicate the order upon arrival at SGEU. I reasoned, may as think ahead to avoid any mix-up down the line.

Now, if I was to grade the performance of both Al and Tanya from "Premiere Van Lines", I would reward them with a five out of five gold stars, without hesitation. One star for professionalism, another for friendliness, a third for promptness, four for respect, and a fifth for carefulness.

Stay tuned for the rest of this story. It's not over until the artwork reaches its final destination...out on Saskatchewan highways, blown up to twice this size and up in the air on their billboard infrastructure!

Your Exclusive Guide to the Mural-Painting Method

As usual, the first step in starting any painting...from easel painting to the most massive mural...is separating the light from the dark by indicating everything "dark" with a translucent orange glaze. This the first step in the "tonal study" and must be executed across the entire surface. No dark shape, shadow or form is left behind. In case you haven't noticed, this "global glazing" technique creates a wonderful visual continuity from the very beginning of the 13-step process.

The so-called "global glazing" technique creates "visual continuity" throughout the 13-step process.

No shadow, shape or form that qualifies as "dark" is omitted in the first orange glaze.

When I start a painting, I work methodically across the entire surface to indicate separation between light and dark. This "global" approach not only keeps the process nicely organized, but also immediately creates a certain continuity, which will pay off in spades as the painting develops.

Time to fire up the 2nd glaze, a translucent red.

 With each successive glaze, the resolution increases dramatically. I consider the first glazes as "sketch" glazes, preparatory studies that allow me to make critical decisions in the refinement of the detail. This is possible due to the fact that each glaze presents so much more detail.

The second (red) glaze nears completion.

You can plainly see that the details of the mural increase exponentially with each successive glaze.

Look what happens with the addition of the "violet" glaze!

Once I initiate the "violet" glaze, things really start to pop. I think of violet as the first really definitive glaze, as far as the resolution of the detail goes. Put it this, you better make sure that you have a good handle on the composition and detail by this time, because by now, you are definitely committed!

Violet is a definitive glaze, as it really pops the detail.

I always find it so gratifying to reach glaze three, which is a translucent violet. Even with ten remaining glazes to full-on technicolor, the violet glaze creates a powerful impression of the potential of the image.

From one end to another and from top to bottom, each glaze is methodically applied.

This so-called "Global Glazing" technique is something that I have meticulously developed over the course of sixty-odd large murals and hundreds of easel paintings. Make no mistake about it, this technique was developed over many years of trial and error, but mostly it is common sense when the desired end game is a lustrous, rich, life-like result.

The third glaze (translucent violet) shown in its completion.

Followers of my blog will recognize that each glaze serves to enhance all of the preceding glazes. One of the huge advantages of employing the "translucent" glaze is that all of the successive glazes mingle and dance with their fellow glazes. Nothing gets "buried" as I progress through the complete 13-step process, but rather, all of the glazes compliment each other, glowing in their full-spectrum glory. So stay tuned, as this mural will blossom rapidly in front of your eyes!

If you want to see a sneak preview of the entire 13-step process, feel free to check out this 48-second video that I created a while back.

A Candid Video that Explains Purpose of SGEU Murals

Yesterday a friend of mine visited our gallery and requested that I explain the "plan" regarding the two murals commissioned by Saskatchewan Government Employees' Union (SGEU) here in my home province. She then proceeded to catch my response on her video camera.





To reiterate, once the two murals are finished, they will be permanently housed at the new SGEU HQ in Regina, and will be photographed with a large format digital camera. The original images will then be enlarged 200% to be pressed into service as highway billboards across the province. A design firm based in Vancouver will be charged with the task of computer generating a slogan and the SGEU logo, to be superimposed over my artwork. As you can imagine, this is all very exciting for me, because my artwork will potentially be viewed by millions of eyeballs in such a high-traffic public setting.

1st of 2 Murals for SGEU 90% Finished

After another weekend of painting, the first of the two murals commissioned for SGEU is about 90% finished. How do I know that, you ask? Here's how... typically I use a technique that requires exactly 13 translucent glazes...I counted!

              

1st SGEU Mural Coming Along Nicely

After several more days of concentrated painting, the first of two murals commissioned by the good folks at Saskatchewan Government Employees' Union (SGEU) is coming along nicely.

Now that this mural is up and running, my painting instincts are kicking

This has been a very enjoyable painting process, with a certain amount of flexibility that has allowed me to stretch my creative muscles. I'm finding that my instincts and experience in mural-painting are holding me in good stead as work progresses. With a project of this magnitude, it is important to remember the end-game. These murals will be digitally captured with large format cameras once I pronounce them "finished". The resulting photographs will be enlarged 200% to create highway billboards throughout the province of Saskatchewan. Bearing this rather astonishing fact in mind, my artwork needs to be sensitive to the context. 

You can see that after a few more good days of painting productivity, the images are emerging as quite vivid.

The rendering of the thematic figures needs to be therefore a bit exaggerated, or put another way, the details must be on the "theatrical" side, with very pronounced features. It would not be appropriate, considering the fact that the observers of the highway billboard replications will be whizzing by at highway speed, to be overly subtle with the "visual fingerprints" of the design.

My "Pride of Ownership" rings true with the Saskatchewan-based 

So, it should not surprise you, dear reader, that my approach to this visual spectacle is to paint in a muscular style. I am sure it will be very interesting to see the effect of these massive photographs based on my original artwork. I'm already wrestling with the concept that every brush stroke will ultimately be enlarged to twice its natural size! 

Please stay tuned, I will be updating this project on a regular basis as work continues.

Please visit my website www.mrgaudet.com for more samples of my artwork and to read about my upcoming book, called "Dancing with Rejection: A Beginner's Guide to Immortality".

Rock those Brushes! Firing up Two New Murals...

After several weeks of  negotiating, work has commenced with a vengeance on the two murals for Saskatchewan Government Employees' Union (SGEU). The "negotiating" part involved hashing out what and who specifically would end up being featured in the murals. There were quite a few considerations with this. First and foremost, all of the characters needed to be relevant and topical.

Second, there had to be an "aesthetic" sensitivity to the entire layout. (My job to ensure this!)

I decided to build a temporary frame, to hold the panels, in our back yard.

I suspect that the main reason why my submission to SGEU to undertake this (fairly ambitious) project in the first place was approved out of twenty-six "serious proposals" was mainly due to my mural-painting portfolio. My working portfolio clearly telegraphs the fact that my career has been built on murals. In my case, it is not so much "wishful thinking", as proof positive that I have both the experience and credentials to carry it off.

Like this.

Having dealt successfully with all of these concerns (and more), I was delighted to get a positive green light to go ahead, and have now splashed on the first...um...five or so glazes.

Once the layout was lightly sketched on the primed panels, I was eager to start painting.

 You can imagine, after looking at the sketches for the past few weeks, I was very happy to start actually painting. Put another way, I was biting at the bit! Without any more hesitation, I dove straight into painting. There is not a lot of guesswork here. I have pretty much nailed down the technique now, after so much painting leading up to this project.

By the end of the first, long day of painting, I had pretty much completed the first two glazes.

One of the most exciting things about this technique is that we get to see the entire surface area virtually "come to life" simultaneously. I will not "micro-manage" a certain area...because that would not be the best approach to mural-painting. Rather, it all...paradoxically, gets painted at once, if you get what I mean.

I was happy to find out today that there is a dedicated portal on the www that will feature regular updates on this project. It's really well conceived. Check it out here.