St Francis Mural Project

St. Francis Mural Project

 

All finished!

 

Center area features Old Testament Prophets- Moses, Abraham, Noah and David

Sacrifice of Issac

 King David

Noah's Ark

Left side above cryroom

Right side above cryroom

David and Goliath still life

                                     

                                                           Blood on doorposts-Passover

                                                     Dove and Raven with olive branch

                                                       Abraham and Sarah in the desert

Ark of the Covenant

                                           
                                                                 Presentation of manna  

My fearless assistants: Jack Smart and Jonathon Omarie

You guys rock!!

Moses with 10 Commandments and Burning Bush on Mount Sinai

Panorama shot of mural in progress.  I am very pleased with the way this project has turned out.  I think the murals successfully create the illusion of piercing the wall.

St. Francis Mural Project

 Some in-progress pics.  Special thanks to my models, Tommy George and Evee Hunter.

 Moses

David still life

 Clay model for Noah's Ark

Clay model for doorway 

 

St. Francis Mural Project

After a seemingly endless process of revision, I finally started painting this week.  My approach remains much as it was with the previous mural-first drawing, then washing in values, then color.  The main theme(s) of these murals (ten in all) is based on 4 Old Testament prophets-Moses, Abraham, David and Noah.  All of the paintings in this series incorporate iconography which is symbolic of those prophets.

More to come...

St. Francis Mural Project

Here is my last reference photo for the next mural project.  I wanted to create a still life in the style of a 17th century Dutch vanitas painting.  I love the rich colors, dramatic lighting and interesting textures.  It's loaded with symbolism that recalls the epic battle of David and Goliath.  My favorite part is the plaster cast eye of Michelangelo's David.  I can't wait to paint it!

St. Francis Mural Project

 

Variations of mission-style arch for back wall. 

 

 

Choir wall

St. Francis Mural Project

Sincerest apologies to my 13 followers for the recent lapse in blogging activity.  I've been quite busy lately getting through this last semester-helping students get ready for AP Art History exams and AP Studio Art portfolios, matting and framing several student works and setting up Juan Diego's annual Fra Angelico art exhibition.  Thankfully, as of this week I have a lot less going on which means I can start moving forward with the next mural project.  Before I do, here's one more look at the finished altarpiece mural.  I never get sick of looking at it.

                                                                       Choir wall

 

This view is looking down the nave toward the rear of the church.  The concepts for this wall mural are symbols of Old Testament Covenants.  To maintain the order and balance of this beautiful mission style architecture, I wanted to create multiple smaller murals set within mission-style archways to compliment the mission motif.

 This is a sketch I did on site in my sketchbook.  You can see the archways I mentioned earlier, I have several variations of this idea.  I think it works well in the space.

 

Here are some preliminary thumbnails of the archways. 

                                                   Molly's also excited to get back to work.