Peggy's Mural

Today I finished up a mural for a super cool woman I met at Trader Joe's. She liked the pond scene I painted behind the flower section and wanted to know if I was free to paint something similar at her place.

She's got a sort of oasis for herself and her menagerie of rescue dogs up in the Pasadena foothills. This place is cool. Tons of different old growth plants, an enormous avocado tree, trellises, garden paths, and toward the back is an old horse barn.

 

Part of the structure had to be replaced with new particle board siding which didn't do much justice to the vibe she had going, so I concentrated my efforts on that spot. Maybe 13' by 9' ish?

She gave me free reign to do as I pleased, with a few requests: butterflies, cacti, and a 1955 Ford T-Bird. why? Because she totally has one, in super nice condition, and it runs like a champ!

Cars aren't easy, but how could I refuse? :)

Here's an example of that scary midpoint, just before I started the car. Just when everything can go down the chute.

Crisis averted.

I filled in a little more background just so I wouldn't have to repaint stuff behind the windows and blocked in the car. Butterflies are still undone. I decided to save the car for last and go ahead on the butterflies.

And with most of them done, let's get going.

 I tightened up the lines and started articulating the cut lines in the body, hood, windows and hard top.

Looking back at the car it really wasn't a stark white so I warmed it up a little and started to contour.

 Compliments the teal interior nicely :)

And here comes the reflections in the  headlights plus the grills on the hood and front end.

 Now reflections in the chrome fixtures, hubcaps, and windshields!

 Perspective is only really weird from the extreme right side, but still fun to look at :)

On the last day of painting, Peggy surprised me with a beeeyoutiful barrel cactus (seasonally decorated just so) to add to my own fledgling garden.

The whole job was such a treat. Happy to do it again soon!