mural: page 2

yesterday we began painting the mural.  we had 5 kids show for class, and my friend jim durett volunteered his time to help paint also.  first off, dave raymer and i moved the panels from my studio at foam city to TAF.  we set them up in order along the retaining wall behind the Wells Center and started collecting cans and buckets.

ready to paint

in the first session of the class we discussed color palette, and decided muted colors would match our theme, aesthetic and the space that we are installing our mural.  we went with golden cad and naples yellows, rusty reds, oxidized copper greens and layers of all to add depth.  the students and i began by cutting in all of the corners and edges with cans of black spray paint, the we started slopping paint on the panels.  i gave each kid a bucket and a brush and then directed them where to put their color and by the end of the 2 hour session we had completed one full layer and had gotten about half way through layer number 2.  the kids had a tough time understanding why one would paint in layers, but after getting a second coat on the some of panels, and being able to see the colors underneath, i think they began to understand why layers are better than flat single colors.

nearing the end of layer #1

getting going is the hardest thing.  we had many different groups of students involved in this project.  the class is a bit transient, because it is a free program for these students to participate in.  but there has been a good base of students that has continued through the entire program.  and they have had the biggest impact on the mural.  next week dave and i will install the panels on the wall, and the kids will begin filling in imagery that they created using stencils, and also we will add in the other musical instruments that will be the feature of the work, including a couple of interactive components that will encourage people to make some music with our painting.

panel #1 on the left

panel #2

panel #3

they still have a long way to go before they are finish, but for the first session of painting the panels, i think we made a lot of progress.  there are some colors that we will have to tone down, cover up, and reconfigure, but all-in-all we made made a ton of progress.  stay tuned as we keep working on this piece...