MORE PROGRESS ON THE SKY

Yesterday, I was a bit frustrated with the paint and the colors I was using. I didn't make as much progress as I had hoped to that day. Today I did much better. This morning, someone made a comment about using an airless sprayer, claiming they would have the sky painted in no time if they were doing it. The truth is, it may be faster and I had considered spraying in the sky on this mural and on previous murals, but I always go back to doing it by hand. Why would I do that? Why not use a spray gun if it is faster? Speed is not what is important to me in the end when it comes to quality and the technical effect. I want the end result to have a fine art or museum quality about it, not a run-of-the-mill commercial look. If I cranked it out like everyone else, It wouldn't have the extra something which sets my murals apart from everyone else. Cheap looking faux effects or a slick commercial look would ruin the effect. If the mural lacks heart and soul, if it lacks emotion, then I haven't done my job.

As I had mentioned on a post from an earlier mural project this year; It is an interesting coincidence that the clients production level has skyrocketed in terms of the number of patents granted to the company in the last decade. I started painting my brand of indoor murals for Novatek in the fall of 2001, a decade ago. Novatek has won more patents per year than any other company in Utah. The company CEO has also been voted the number one inventor in the state of Utah for the past several years. Have my murals contributed to this interesting rise in productivity? I like to think so. Many Novatek employees believe the artwork on the walls really has made a difference. There ARE proven studies available which have measured the effect art in the corporate workplace. A study called the BCA study has shown strong evidence that art has a positive effect on the corporate employee. For more information go to www.themeroommurals.blogspot.com and read my blog post there for more details on this study.

My mural technique does employ a few tricks I learned while working in the sign industry, which began  more than a decade ago, but I am an artist first and I have had this ambition since I can remember. I minimize the tricks and aim for an artsy kind of a look first. I grew up watching my dad painting at his easel, running a plein air painting school in the summer and painting signs the rest of the year. In 1980, dad retired from the sign business which I took over and and he became a full-time gallery artist. I also began putting my artwork in a few art galleries. I have always had something to do with fine art my entire professional career. It is too much in my blood and I'm not about to give it up for some cheap, though faster commercial effect, especially if the final result does not meet my standard. If your going to paint it big, do it right. Put some artistic pride into it.

STARTED PAINTING TODAY

Well, after all that hullabalou, we actually started painting the sky in the "GODZILLA MURAL" today. I am using acrylics. Every time I try acrylics, I realize how much I don't like them. I will probably do a few more acrylic colors, then it's back to oils again. At the very least, I will finish applying the current color all the way across the top of the sky, then blend in lighter and bluer colors, along with the cloud colors of a twilight time of day. I will probably end up doing most of the sky in artist oils. I feels good to once again be  back at the process of mural painting. Other than my wife and family, my first love is painting, my second love is hiking in the wilderness or horseback riding the back woods of nature. The later love requires someone with a horse. I don't own one myself. A friend has mules, but currently no truck to pull his trailer. The best experience I ever had on horseback is with a Tennessee Walker. This breed of horse has such a smooth gait, it's like riding on a cloud.

Yesterday was a state holiday in Utah --- Pioneer Day. I invited my wife, my two youngest daughters, Annie and Kendra, along with their husbands, Mark and Andrew on a hike up to Stewarts Falls. The waterfalls is a natural spring which comes right out of the mountain and is not far from the Sundance Ski Resort in Utah. At a good pace, it only takes about 45 minutes to get to the falls and you are of course nicely rewarded by natures beauty along the trail and at trails end.

Tomorrow, I plan to put in a good long day --- painting on the mural, stretching canvases for an upcoming plein air workshop and working on my studio paintings. See you next time.