O' phoenix, burn you bright into this night!

by Meredith 1. June 2013 10:01

PhoenixArianna, your mamma is outdoing herself again. I hope you like it as much as I do. I am really, really happy with out the phoenix turned out. I was really torn during the planning stages of the mural about what was going to go in this spot. I felt in needed to be a critter (Madeline has two dragons and a bunch of birds, after all). Going with the night theme my original thought was a owl would be appropriate. While owls are cool, I just didn't think it would be exciting enough. A mythical creature sounded like a good idea and one that glowed in some way seemed like the best option. A glowing bird with long tail feathers was the perfect fit and created a balance between the two rooms. Plus the added bonus of Aries being a fire sign.

 

 

 

 

 

Arianna's Mural: Adding Aries

by Meredith 25. May 2013 21:58

AriesOther work that was completed yesterday (and a bit from before that) is the background around Argo, Cetus, and Virgo. The guidelines are centered on Hamal, the brightest star of the Aries constellation. Aries is Arianna's zodiac sign and I just could figure out how to work a ram into the aquatic theme that was going on in that section of the mural.

The consolation was to create ram's head arches around the windows, and give a little extra emphasis to the Aries constellation. Plan is to apply base paint and then cut my template apart and draw in each of the pieces for outlines. In theory, by using a template they should all turn out identical. Assuming I don't find a way to mess it up.

 

Aries template

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arianna's Mural: Dance fairy, dance!

by Meredith 20. May 2013 21:56

FairyLong day today but I got much needed work done. Some house cleaning (which never ends) and work on Arianna's mural were highlights. Fairies are done, castle is almost done. I pulled the tape off so I can start the borders.

Brian Froud is a huge inspiration for my fairy paintings. All of the fae have been inspired from his sketches and I've tried to add little touches that make them mine. Like in Madeline's room I wanted a touch of music added to the mural. In the window the little guy is playing a fae guitar and the girl fairy is dancing to his music. Because it is night time they needed a little lamp to illuminate their dalliance. Girl Fairy's dress was painted to correlate to the phoenix that will be painted on the other wall.

The castle is nearly completed (still need to work out the stained glass window design). Painting this castle has been a real challenge. I have no idea what direction the light needs to be coming from. Typically objects in the night get darker as they recede into the background, but atmosphere can make objects appear lighter. There are multiple light sources with the moon, torches, and windows. I'm hoping that my choices make sense and the castle looks as if it is sitting on a bluff at night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arianna's Mural: Remaining finished stars

by Meredith 14. April 2013 21:23

Here are a few more photos. Argo and Pisces

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monocerus, Orion, and Cetus












Arianna's Mural: More stars (bears, dragon)

by Meredith 12. April 2013 21:18

I missed posting these after I finished the stars and it looks like I need to take new photos of the finished parts.

 

 

 

 

Arianna's Mural: Castle and moon

by Meredith 7. April 2013 21:11

Castle sketchThe castle in Arianna's room is the opposite side of the castle in Madeline's room. I used tracing paper and sketched Maddie's castle, flipped the paper and then added the sketch to the wall in Ari's room. I then made up what the rest of the castle should look like. First steps is to sketch, paint outlines, then fill in with color.

I've also painted a moon in one of the windows. /howl

Arianna's Mural: Star light, star bright…

by Meredith 11. March 2013 16:54

Glow in the dark stars...All the stars are glowing tonight! Got all the stars painted yesterday and put two coats of glow in the dark paint on them. They glow great once your eyes adjust to the dark. Tulip Glow in the Dark fabric paint is the best glowing stuff I have found do far. The Rustoleum stuff didn't work well at all.

Arianna's Mural: Sticker time

by Meredith 10. March 2013 16:51

Argo, HydraThe characters are done and now it is time to add the stars. I'm using poka-dot stickers as place holders for stars. It is working out really well because I can peel them off the wall and move them around until I get it right. I'm also using two different sizes to denote major and minor stars.

Arianna's Mural: Just Add Coffee

by Meredith 9. March 2013 15:31

VirgoLatest progress: Virgo, Leo and Pavo are done for this stage. I think Hercules is done too.

Worked on Arianna's mural until midnight last night. Made some good progress. I'll post a picture once I get some coffee. There are still more layers of work that need to be done (like the stars) but I think there might be several characters that are now "done." I need to look at things in the daylight and when I'm not so tired to be certain of their finished state.

Again, just need that coffee. Come on coffee pot hurry up, the children are stirring...

 

 

 

 

 

Arianna's Mural: Color time!

by Meredith 5. March 2013 15:17

Monocerus, Argo, Hydra, Orion, Cetus, Taurus, Picses, PegasusStarted applying some color. My first attempt at adding color didn't work out very well. The orange color seemed waaaay too vibrant to me. The first paint on Virgo's dress also just didn't work out. I had everything with an even application of orange and blue and that made nothing stand out. I went back over the dress and made it much more blue and that made a huge difference. It also helped me decide how to approach color on the other characters too. Some are more blue or more orange to make them stand out from the other characters around them. I think that is working out.

About Meredith Cook

Welcome to my repository of creative expression. I'm not a happy camper unless I am making something and over the years I have dabbled in quite a few different kinds of art projects. Some projects come from taking art classes, others are completely hobby driven, and projects like home decor come from a need to customize an item and make it better or unique. The overall theme behind what I do is to learn how to manipulate objects and practice what I know about visual aesthetic and good design. Oh yeah, and to have fun.

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