Fifth Painting Session

Today is our fifth painting session. We started at about 8:00 and worked untill 4:30 or so, with just a short lunch. Once we got started we were "in the zone" and did not want to stop.

Michelle Genz of Vero Beach 32963 stopped by to do a piece on the mural. She was amazed at the size of the work, and marveled at the earlier mural, created in 2000. Michelle had never seen the 2000 mural, and expressed that the public should be made more aware of its existence. Hopefully 32963 will help to spread the word about the old mural and the mural work which in progress.



Pictured is how our panels were set up for the day, concentrating mostly on just three panels. I had planned to sketch my second panel in, and did so just briefly, just to segue the dirt pathway connecting to Dawn's panel.

Dawn and Christine today had to concentrate on visually joining their two panels together, making sure the water variations match. There was much talking between them about color and stroke while I mostly concentrated on refining the perspective of Downtown Vero.

Pictured is Christine with her manatee panel in the Indian River Lagoon, finishing up the vibrant colors in the water.

As an experienced mural painter, Christine is always coming up with inventive, creative ways to accomplish her creations. Here she has her brushes conveniently accessible, making a very functional alternate use of a tubular ice cube tray. Also pictured is Christine with her laptop, which she uses to search the internet for images or inspiration in the makings of her murals.












Pictured is Dawn with her panel of the Indian River Lagoon. She and Christine plan to depict in their panels many of the water-related activities enjoyed by Vero Beach residents and guests. Dawn struggled with perspective, as did I, with these huge canvases.














Pictured is the Downtown Vero Beach panel, which is coming along very slowly. I am very surprised at how long it takes to paint these large surfaces. Since I am new at both acrylic painting and mural painting, there is a great learning curve, mostly the knowledge of handling the paint and how to use this medium to cover the canvas. Exaggerated perspective is the goal, however it is proving quite difficult for me to achieve.

I am delighted to be able to put a bit of Seminole Indian representation in the Vero panel. The man in the left foreground will be Judge Graham W. Stikelether, Jr., wearing the Seminole-patterned robe gifted to him by Leona Smith, a Seminole Indian. I will reveal other luminaries included in this panel in future postings, so stay tuned!