I find creating murals deceiving as they appear to blast off and all too often clients and viewers think it will be done in a matter of days, but it takes time to block colors in and start to adjust the final values, colors, and details. In general these final decisions are made after the whole mural has received a wash of color.

The end of week two looked promising, but a long way to go.

Originally I thought I would start with the upper third of the mural and work my way down, but the mural had other plans. Quickly I began focusing on the left hand Ice House Fire of 1907 in Rockport Harbor knowing I wanted it to recede as a night+winter scene.

Week 3 had me looking to create the depth from the foreground into the harbor scene. This part of the composition was inspired by the paintings of Pieter Brugel and how he portrayed everyday life within the landscape. I loved the way the trees in the foreground created a sense of distance.

Using the mock-up painting as a guide and not a bible meant letting things develop and colors and some design to change. I knew the scaling up to such a large size would require letting the work speak to me in regards to how the mural was viewed and experienced within the space.