Tuesday, August 10, 2010

The Mural Project: Part One

Thanks for tuning in! This is going to be lengthy post, so be sure you have a comfy chair and a refreshing beverage... This all began when my oldest daughter asked if we could re-paint her room. Sounded simple enough, and then I shot myself in the foot and asked if she would like a mural...
I work in ink and watercolors. I love how I can be precise with my linework and work on small pieces of paper and then add lovely watercolor washes. The painting you see above is in acrylics, which I really don't "get." There are artists out there who do amazing work with acrylics, the way they blend colors and create their mystical paintings. My work ends up very folk-art like, as you can see, and this is why I tip my hat to them and stick with my watercolors.
So, we did some brainstorming and I did some sketches and submitted them for approval and then we began on "The Horse Room."
The walls had been a light purple, here you can see the blue sky (Mickey Sailor DC3A-60-1).
My wonderful husband kindly offered to help me paint the sky and the grass (Apple Orchard 430B-5). People probably don't really care what the colors are, so I'll move on...
Alex brought home this cool projector thingy from work, and it worked great.
As you can see on the screen, it was getting a little late... I kinda felt like a vandal drawing on the walls. I got detention once for being late to band practice. Oh, yeah. That's right!
We now have a mare and foal out to pasture
and baby Gordy!
I tried something wild and crazy and painted with the kids in the room with me. They took some photos, and played "Paint Store" (apparently, the customer is not always right at the paint store).
There was a puppy playing the didj
and the Zsu-Zsu pets made a cameo appearance!
Oooh, a floating legless horse!
Last night I finished the barn and added a few more flowers.
Took the day off today because I have a sore throat and a wee fever. Starting to feel a little better and hope to get back to painting tomorrow. My goal is to have everything finished by Sunday so we can get rolling on "The Nature Room with a Unicorn."


9 comments:

Andi said...

Oh I love them, all of the horses, the little pup, the flowers, the barn...It's all too cute Nina, what a beautiful space for your daughter!

a : )

Christina Rodriguez said...

WOW this is a HUGE project, Nina! No wonder you're sick - you've worked yourself so hard. I can't wait to see this finished!

Anonymous said...

nina! that is soooo amazing! i love it! you are so talented! A+

i love that wee puggordy is in there!

i also love your girls' recipes [previous post]. y'all are talented!

i hope you feel better! :o)

karengenie

Phil said...

Totally awesome! Is the bunny-cloud part of the mural too?! You rock
Phil

Sharon Wagner said...

How fun! I was thinking how I couldn't believe that you were done already. But not quite...keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh! That mural is going to be AWESOME when it is done! What a lucky young lady your daughter is.

Nina Crittenden said...

Thanks, Everyone! My cold is delaying the painting process, but I hope to get back to it soon! Oh, the bunny cloud will not be included, but there will be clouds!!! :)

Casey G. said...

this is looking great! Can't wait to see the finish, just feel better first! Sleep is important; although, I forget that too. When you are creating it's easy to forget sleep is needed.

Dana Carey said...

This looks great, Nina!
It's hard work but it also looks like fun. Your kids are going to be thrilled with the result.

My hat's off to you. And as the French say, Bon Continuation!

Thanks for sharing--my curiosity is satisfied... for now!
Dana