HK Mural Society: June 2007

Saturday, June 23, 2007

the proposed mural from a distance

Thanks to Photoshop. Now we can have a preview of how the mural will look like on the wall.

Hopefully, should there be no further major revisions needed for this design, the actual mural will look like this. Notice that the area has benches and school tables in there. This is where students congregate and therefore the mural will be a welcome sight.

the sketch

I just hope and pray that the Principal, the Art Teacher and all the students will finally agree on this layout.

This is supposedly a line drawing or sketch of the mural design that we will utilize this coming workshop resumption. We will apply two coats of gesso before enlarging this skecth on the actual wall.

With the use of grid lines and grid squares, it will be very helpful to us as we begin sketching and drawing directly on the wall surface,

stage 5: more contrast this time

As mentioned in stage 3, there is competition among the many elements in that picture because of their strong colors and interesting shapes.

Now to solve this conflict the walls, with the gate, were enhanced into a darker shade and color. This change has given emphasis to the foreground elements and those in the background. This has also helped in introducing a feeling of depth as one looks at the mural.

It's interesting how the ship and the people and animals present has triggered the thought about the story of Noah's ark. Could this subliminally be the representation of the modern day Noah's ark. Surely the studenst have their own unique interpretations and stories to tell.

stage 3

Here almost all of the elements are now present and makes the image a bit crowded but in a festive mood.

Students gave us their individual ideas and stories behind each and every image that they have submitted as part of the requirements for the preparation of the mural design and layout.

Notice that the colors are bright and it seems that all the elements in the picture plus their colors compete for attention while the wall just above the three arches stands-out from the rest because of its bright pale yellow color.

adding the elements

In the past we do the mural layout by using cutouts of the images submitted by each and every mural workshop participants. We then compose a puzzle until we arrive at a satisfactory overall design and layout, after which a final layout is drawn or painted by hand on a piece of board. The size of the board is proportional to the actual size of the desired wall.

Now by using Photoshop things are a lot easier as the computer could facilitate the design process. Yet there is one concern - people might gradually or completely forget the importance of hand drawing and sketching.

In this stage we now have several elements added on the design as they play important roles in the unfolding of a collective product of several imaginations.

mural design development process (stage 1)

From among the many images and sketches either drawn or researched by students, one image was picked to start the design process going.

What more could give students, surrounded by boring blank walls and limited spaces, the chance to breath and relax a little bit more is another space "carved" through that wall.

This image was taken from the original sketch by one of the students, was developed on Photoshop and fitted on the wall.

preparing the wall

The wall painted with three coats of gel medium in blue tint. This technique helps artists to evenly apply the transparent gel on the wall.

It is helpful to consider the shape and size of the wall when designing murals. Wall area considerations, the allowable distance to view the mural from afar and the expected crowd of viewers are just some of main factors that affect the process of producing a suitable design.