IV on the Ramsay Mural

Its been a lot cooler out, which is really helping with the application of paint. The pigments are covering with fewer layers because it is coming out of the can thicker.

I also brought up a camping chair for the lower bits so I don't have to kneel on the gravel. Unfortunately, it broke within the first hour of using it.

I'm adding pink and purple which is getting me closer to finishing off the pattern in many of the letters.

The remaining white areas will eventually be filled in with blue, a different blue than the background.

My buddy wandered up and reapplied some of the orange he painted to make it less streaky and transparent. It was a super hot day that day and the paint was coming out of the can as thin as ink.

The letters are shaping up. Once they are filled in I will go back and retouch the black outline.

Add more colour to your world

When I'm not teaching my teen camps full time, I sneak in some colour after work and on the week-ends, wether permit tin, on the Ramsay Community rink mural. Got his by some bad storms which really cut down how much I could do this past week but I did have a little help from my friends recently.

My best friend Ben, and niece Teegan, helped me add some orange and magentas while I added some green to the piece.

There is an overall pattern I am following, ROYGBIV and mixing the previous and following colours onto each letter.

One thing I didn't expect that has become apparent as I proceed, is that the pure tones need multiple coats to flatten them out and hide the transparent looking brush strokes. Meaning…… I have many more hours to put in than I anticipated. C'est la vie.

Its nice and quiet when working alone, but much more fun when I have music playing and helping hands. I teach after my day shift tonight but will be back at it tomorrow night and throughout the week-end if anyone out there wants to pop by, message me for details :D

Ramsay Community Rink mural

I love my neighborhood, ramsay. I was elated to be awarded the opportunity to do another mural for my community. This time it is along a wall over 100 ft. long near the rink, at the top of the hill. The community decided on my preliminary, had the wall primed and I got to work.

There are a lot of invisible steps when making an outdoor mural. First you have to visit the site and take measurements. Then you have to transfer that data to a suitable design template. 

 Then you have to design it and have it approved, in this case by the Ramsay neighborhood community board.

 After that happens, other parts of the machine need to get going, you need to get money and gather the necessary materials, especially the paint colors.

 I definitely will go over budget on the paint but I'd rather get good outdoor plaint that will last if I am going to put many hours in on this piece.

 I managed to get down most of the lettering free hand, with a bit of planning but no measuring to get them to fit in the length properly.

 Then I begin the elaborate flower of life patterning in each letter.

My initial plan had a much larger circumference but this far more detailed version is due to the garbage can lid I decided to use to construct the pattern.

 It is a challenge to go around the posts so I'll have to create a cardboard shape that can bend and fold around the posts.

 I had a friend pick the paradise blue that will be filled in around the letters.

 My nephew Nolan came to visit and "help" me on the mural.

Stay tuned there is more to come.