Giving Thanks

Last night was the biggest night of my life! All the important people  in my life and new friends gathered together to celebrate and give thanks for the mural I've been involved with for the last year. I was moved and humbled by the generosity of people simply displayed by a sincere hand shake and a "Thank you!"... it's amazing how far this simple gesture can go. One kind lady even gave me a hug!

It was my pleasure to paint this gift that Fr. John planned through me... as a proud member of the St. Clare of Assisi Parish I tell you do whatever you do best and do it well... and do it for someone other than yourself and you shall find true happiness. I did last night and I'm still in it's afterglow.

These a few pics just after the mural was completed. They don't do it justice... you'll need to go see them in person. I'm looking to get the mural professionally photographed. If anyone is interested please send me a message.

A

Come all on October 19th!

Rather than post up the photos of the completed mural, you can see it live and up close on October 19th at 7:30. Fr. John is celebrating a thanks giving mass... in addition myself and Fr. John will be formally presenting the mural to the community.

It's complete!

The mural is complete! We have a few other smaller projects on the go NOW THAT THE SCAFFOLD IS GONE!!!! Yep, if you make it this week for evening mass you will be the first to see it. We will have a formal celebration for it's completion and introduction to the parish community in October. Stay tuned for more info on this.

I must say that I am very-very pleased with the results and I expect you will too.

Last preview!

Tonight's a special night! I just finished the last figure... although we still have a few minor tweaks here and there. Another couple nights and it will be complete and ready to share in it's entirety.

Preview IV

It's been a fun week... great progress on the garment phase! I won't give a fashion analysis, but I will say that linen and wool is back.

Preview III

Here's what I've been up to for the last few weeks. A lot of hands, feet and finishing touches on the faces. We're in a really-really good spot... the home stretch is near!

Community of believers

I would love to hear from you.

I'm open to any comments or opinions. The painting focuses on the day of Pentecost. As it's written in Acts, the apostles and other members (friends, brothers, sisters...) gathered in an upper room above the place where they had previously gathered for Jesus' last supper. There they prayed (the first church?) and suddenly it happened... "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting." 2:1–2. 

There's a secondary focus to the painting, the simple people who gathered in that room... a small community of believers. These were people who's lives would change completely - turning the world up side down (in a good way). I think that's so powerful. You?

Sneak Preview II

 

It's good when you look and smile at your work and say, "Did I really do this?". The last 3 months have been intense – I've never worked with so much deliberate purpose. I guess it's because ultimately it will be a part of each Sunday mass, each baptism, communion, confirmation, every wedding ceremony, Easter and Christmas celebration and everything in between – hopefully and truthfully a part of you the community. I hope in some way you can connect to it's meaning or simply for it's artistic value. Hey, no pressure right? Any way, the point I'm trying to make is that I didn't think I could do this (at this scale) and all it's demand and now I believe I can.

Sneak Preview

Good Friday

 

Thank goodness for Friday and for my escape from reality... is this my other reality? 

Can I just choose this one and forget about everything else? 

Good things happened tonight at St. Clare. 

I'm on to my third figure and by the end of tomorrow morning's session I should have 2 more done.

Peter

Today was one of those days at the office. I was so 'not' in the mood to paint and I didn't think I would get much done tonight on the church painting considering the my lack of energy (and sleep). But, to my surprise the results after three hours on my first figure were stunning. The photo above is just 15 minutes into my first hour. Peter is now complete and he's almost life like when I stand 15 feet from the wall. Fr. John is very happy - and that makes me even happier. I can't wait to show the completed Peter to everyone!

One more

Here's one more sneak peak of God the Father. He was completed this morning and looks amazing. Unfortunately if any one wants to see him in full you'll need to attend the unveiling.

Hand of God

Hands are never fun to paint. But after tonight, I don't mind it as much. It's still a work in progress... I think it still needs to be lightened around the base of the palm as it's nearest to the light radiating from the white dove.

Up close

I've never been up close to God like this. It's like he's staring at my every brush stroke... I better make them count. I started roughing in the metallic textures of his garment and will eventually tone the color values down to appear more ghostly as he floats out of the cloud background. The objective is to achieve a really soft looking figure that is individual from the darker and shadowed figures (apostles) on the bottom of the mural.

The Next Phase

Last weekend marked the beginning of the phase in which I focus on the figures. So I started with the Holy Spirit - represented by none other than the white dove. I began with this rough painted sketch.

Half way there!

It's been some time since my last post. Here's what I've been up to... the sky is finished! I was going to leave it as a surprise and let you see it in person - but I'll let you take a peak. The photos don't do it justice. The color is off and the glare from the light bulbs are in the way... so it will still be a surprise once we unveil it. These are taken from 3 levels within the scaffold structure.

Sky III

Just about done with the mid tones. It's really starting to intensify. Once I begin applying the lighter tones of yellow and white it will start looking more like heavenly cloud bursts and less like fire (we don't want that).

Big Sky II

More progress to share with you...

Big sky

 

It really is a big sky. It's a challenge not being able to step back and see the whole thing from top to bottom. I'm happy though. It's where I expect it to be so far. I know it doesn't look like much but it soon  will once I start laying the lighter values.

The view from up here

WOW!

Progress - end of May

 

I've been painting hard and happy to say all is going well and according to the vision. Last night was a special one – I painted to the sound of angels. I don't personally know these individuals who were practicing their new songs (or old ones)... I'm not even sure if they knew I was there painting behind the curtain. And I didn't want to interrupt them either to find out. I painted quietly as they sang and played their instruments. If you're reading this post, "Thank you! You sounded great!"

... more

Yup! I even got around to blocking in some of the dark tones to develop some of the form for the apostles. It was a good day!

The First Coat

7 Hours worth of pink paint! We started at 8am and worked through to 3pm – from the bottom right to the. Even at this early stage it's really starting to take shape. Painting clouds isn't my forte but (wow!) it's so much easier with a big fat 5" brush. I didn't expect to get this far today... I guess Fr. John put in a an extra prayer for today.

One Giant Drawing

The big day has come! I have finally transferred the giant image on the wall. Actually, it's a giant print generated from my master drawing. The drawing itself is only 36" x 15" – enlarged, it is roughly 18 feet across and 7 feet tall. On the reverse side I attached long sheets of carbon paper which I used to transfer the entire drawing when traced on the drawing's side. And after a few tweaks and more sketching, here's the result.

God's-Eye View

 

We're getting closer to realizing our vision. Check this out everyone! 5 levels high and it's so sturdy... for a guy who hates heights. Fr. John took me up to the top and it was truly humbling to realize (again) the project that's before me. I'm totally excited and nervous too. This will be my 2nd home for the next 4-5 months. Being up there in the center of the church looking down... God's-eye view!

Our Vision

 

Here's a little bit of Photoshop magic... I combined the photos from our shoot with the painted studies of the background sky, God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  The scaffolding is currently being erected and I'm almost ready to begin production. God please grant me a steady brush!

God the Father

Here's another sketch of God the Father and the Holy Spirit. He'll appear at the very top of the mural to complete the Trinity. I'll be painting one more colour study very soon... I'll be sure to share it with you.

Personality

It's been a while since my last post... here's where I'm at! These are the studies of each of the apostles. Through these rough practice pieces I can develop each personality prior to working on the actual mural saving me time and my sanity. Starting from the top left to right is Mary, Mary Magdalene, Thomas, Matthew, James, Simon, Nathanael, Jude, Peter, Philip, James the Lesser, and Andrew. These were all painted on 8x10 canvas. John isn't included here as it was my first to complete and was given to Fr. J as a birthday gift. Stay tuned as I'll try and get it back to show you in my next post.

I am stoked!!!

Finally!

Well, here it is. After I print it out 5x the size it will be ready for transfer. It measures 22 feet in width – making the tallest figure about 8 feet tall.

Bringing it to life

It's been a while since I last posted... we've been really busy wrapping stuff up for the final production. We just recently held our photo shoot inside the church. We decided earlier in the process to produce our own photo reference rather than painting from sketch and whatever I could find. I needed the lighting to be just right and having the luxury of working from a self directed piece of reference was more ideal and assured us the accuracy we were after.

The costumes were compliments of Fr. J. and he was lucky to find a few worthy models to fit the roles. A huge THANK YOU to them! Hey look, it's Fr. J and Fr. Donatello!!

Now I can start working on the master sketch which will be used to transfer the composition on to the alter wall.

More sketches

I had some time to kill.

More tests

Here's another digital mock-up showing the sketch in position. We're actually matching the figures to the statue above. The tallest figure would be larger than life size – standing about 7 feet tall.

Big Sky

Here's a test. I quickly created a digital painting and super imposed it on this photo. Looks real doesn't it? The apostles will be positioned a few feet above the alter chair. The feeling is we may just go with a golden sky to compliment the aesthetics of the church. Stay tuned for some color studies to make sure we get the formula right before we put paint to the wall. Still have a ways to go. Fun! Fun! Fun!