On "Sketches".

Hi All, 

So it goes with being a muralist that before they give me a chunk of cash to paint all over their walls, clients want to see a sketch of what it's all gonna look like in the end. This puts me in an odd position because really, I don't know what it's gonna look like in the end. Part of painting, is planning, yes. If I don't plan, and make a crap composition, I could waste a bunch of time painting in, say, a palm tree and put it in a weird or distracting spot. So I plan where to put it before I paint it. This is especially true in mural painting, where that palm tree could be 9 feet tall, and a two hour-long project. Planning is definitely important.

On the client's side, I fully understand the need to know what you're getting into before trusting me and paying me money to totally destroy your perfect "eggshell" colored walls. I've also learned that some people have a much harder time looking at a blank wall, and imagining what it could be as a mural, than an artist might. Not everyone can "see" this way in their mind's eye. Some people are able to tell me EXACTLY what they want, and if I'm lucky, I can translate those words into pictures for them, and they approve my sketches right away. Other clients will just simply say, "I trust you" and let me go after giving me a very basic general outline of what they want. Others have no idea what they want. Sketches are important because they help mediate what is inside my clients' brain, and how I interpret that with my own. It's an important process for a happy client and a happy me. I get that. Intellectually, I get that.

But so much of painting is about responding to what you've already laid out on your canvas, or in my case, wall. The way I paint at least, it's a little bit of planning, and a lot of trusting my guts and hands and reacting to the paint that's already on the wall. So in that way, sketches annoy me, because I want to just tell the client, "It will look like this SORT OF, but in the end, not really at all. But it will all be FINE, I PROMISE!" 

(...In re-reading all that, did I just accidentally write a deep and meaningful metaphor about life and having to find a balance between making plans and trusting your gut? Cool.)

Here's a couple rounds of sketches for my next project. This is something I'm SOOOOO excited to paint, I can hardly wait. (I feel like buying a couple new flat brushes to celebrate. I have a problem...) I'm just super into this one - the colors, the subject matter, the style that the client wants, everything about this. Anyway, the first sketch included all the elements the client asked for pretty much, but it just wasn't enough of a party and it needed a warmer color palette. The client also wanted to get a taste of how I might tackle the more expressive style that they wanted, which you can't really get from collaging actual photos. This isn't going to be a photo-realistic mural. So onto Round 2, which is the second one here. Still waiting for feedback on this one. 

I CAN'T WAIT TO PAINT THIS ONE YOU GUYS!!!!

Fantastical Forest Nursery Mural... D.O.N.E!

Hi All,

I just posted a humungous album of photos to my Talking Walls facebook page, which you can see here. I tried to arrange the album so it's like you're spinning around in the room :) I wish I'd taken a video doing that now, dang it! Anyway, onto pictures :) Ooh actually, a very cute fact about this mural first:

The couple who commissioned this had the cutest idea ever. They just had their baby boy a couple weeks ago, and they want to someday use this mural during their bedtime stories! They said they'll make up stories around the animals, people and scenery, and then when he's old enough, they'll have him write up his own. ISN'T THAT THE CUTEST, EVER??  I love that. I love when murals can become useful tools in some way, more than just looking pretty. I've always said that murals are amazing tools - they can educate, inspire, change minds and even society! If you want proof, just google Diego Rivera. :) Anyway, on to the pictures. If you've been reading all the posts about this project, thanks for keeping up with this saga! Glad to be able to show you it all finished.

Wall #2... Done!

Hi All, 

Well, it's nice to be back in the real world again after last weekend's Big Snow! It was great to get working on this room again. I thought I would post wall #2! It's the one on the left. The idea is to build shelves over those 2 big trees there. There will be a couple long ones going across both the trees on the bottom, then shorter ones going up each tree on both sides. The shelves will hold my client's big collection of stuffed animals :) Should be super cute. Stay tuned for more... working on wall #3!!!

Glass and Paint Collaboration

 Hi All,

Well, today is one giant SNOWPOCALYPSE where I live in Portland, Oregon. Here, that means anything over 1/2 an inch of snow... we aren't used to this! We have about 4 inches on the ground right now, with more to come supposedly. Actually, it JUST started snowing again as I'm typing this! My work is closed today, and I can't make it over to where I'm painting the mural because there's a couple of giant hills in between me and their house. (Which my '86 Oldsmobile does not appreciate in the snow and ice!).  So, I am officially snowed-in... #cabinfever. I have to say though, even though I have things I need to be going out and doing, it is a nice excuse to slow down for a couple days, and catch up on life. After a cold walk around the neighborhood this morning, I'll be spending the rest of the day in my sweats, making valentines and watching Netflix. :) Enjoy the break, all you other Oregonians!

In other news, my cousin Terry sent me this in the mail! If you didn't get a chance to read the initial post on this project, see it here. Terry makes awesome glass and ceramic art, and I paint. So he's been making these glass pieces that have images imprinted on them, and he asked if I would paint him some things to put on his glass! We started with a lion :) I painted the background and the lion separately. I'm not sure if you can totally tell from the pictures, but the background is actually on the bottom layer of the glass, and the lion is on top. So there's a nice depth to this... you can kinda see the shadow along the right edge of the lion. I think it looks so cool! A really neat way to incorporate both our art forms. You can check out this piece and more of Terry's art here.

Happy snow day, if you are experiencing one, wherever you are!

Wall #1... Finished!

Hi All,

Well, here's the first wall of 4! Finished it last weekend, and am now working on painting the entire rest of the room except for doors and ceiling!! I've done a lot of murals, but I've never actually done a COMPLETE 360 DEGREES of mural before in one room! Super excited. This couple's kids are going to be super stoked someday!!!! For now though, the kid is only 3 days old, so ya know, his appreciation for his walls will have to wait until he can do things like, hold his head up by himself. ;) I got to meet the little guy today.... soooo sweet :) Babies are the cutest. But I'm still scared I'm going to break newborns if I touch them! Ahhh sooo cute. Happy to be painting this room for him :) I'll keep you guys updated as I finish the rest of it :) Oh, and just for scale, this wall is about 9.5ft high x 13 ft. wide.

Forest Nursery Mural Progress - First days!

Hi All, 

As promised, a picture post!! Here's how the nursery mural is coming along. (I actually already finished this wall, but haven't taken good final shots yet.... stay tuned for those soon.) I really loved painting this one. My clients asked for a look that was somewhere in between the typical child-like kids room murals, and something more realistic. They want their son to be able to grow with the mural, and like it well into his childhood and on. It's very freeing and exciting for me when someone gives me this kind of direction. I made it a forest, with their colors, with all the elements they wanted, BUT, I get to play with shape make it more "whimsical". It's a ton of fun. Below are pictures of the first 3 days. I finished it on the 4th day, but don't have final pics yet. 

So, this morning I went over to - I thought - spray the clear sealer over it, pull off the blue tape and be done! Then, my clients were like, "Well, we like it so much, we were thinking maybe you could paint the rest of the room?!" Um, YES! So, this is going to be a bigger project than I initially thought, and I could not be more stoked about that. I think it will be absolutely magical for their kid to be in a room that has a forest on not one, but all four walls!! Not only that, but they asked if I could put a castle in there, too :) So excited!!! More to come soon!

Thanks for reading, 

Corie

Day 1:

 Day 2:

 Day 3:

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