Soooooo Close...

You have to look close to see strawberries...

I'd say that I knocked a lot off of the to-do list today!  The biggest hurdle was what used to be an undefined field beneath the cauliflower wave.  Now, it has been planted and is full of strawberries ready to be picked (although no one will be able to see them unless they're up close).

The field "before"

The field "after"

Other things that were done were little touch-ups here and there, including the chef's shoes - he's now wearing creepers (a nod to my husband, Smitty).

Anything after this will be minimal changes - I'm thinkin' more contrast on the columns, maybe on some viney pieces as well...then it's varnish time!

Back to the Boards...

Well, I'm back.  It's been a very busy week with the end of school (summer vacation - here we come), registration for my homeschool co-op next fall, a broken down car to repair, my turn to sit at the gallery, a birthday (mine), unexpected doctor appointment...you get it.  Also, I've been suffering from tennis elbow symptoms that have been around since before I started the mural, so a little break seemed like a good idea.

My very own art critic

I did head out to the garage this evening to add some details to the strawberries - softening the shading around the seeds, adding dark shadows under the leafy tops, etc.  Also, I detailed some of the flowers a little more - mainly the centers, adding a little red/orange in.

I wasn't out for too long, though.  I'm at the point where I'm going to be moving on to the next panel - the grapes and all of those leaves.  It's going to require me to mix up a little more of some paint colors and, once I get going, it's one of those areas that I'll probably obsessively continue until I have them all done.  So, tonight was not the night to go there.  Maybe tomorrow.

A Strawberry Day...

This has certainly been a productive couple of days with many hours in the garage - looks like I'll have one more fairly full day tomorrow (with time out to teach an art class in the afternoon).  Then, it's off to the next round of State Cup games out of town followed by back-to-school Monday.  I have to say that it sure has been nice to just focus on this project for at least a little while.

I had a little help today - my daughter Joley really wanted to paint something.  There really isn't much for someone else to come in and do, but I let her lay down a base coat of yellow on the girl's dress and the strawberry blossoms.  

Much of today was spent working out the strawberry leaves - there was A LOT of overlapping shapes and values to work out - very time consuming (but, then again, I love detail work).

I'm still figuring out the greens.  I wasn't happy with the cauliflower and broccoli - much too blue once I got the warmer strawberry and grape leaves in there.  I always tell my students that color is relative - you may think it looks a certain way until you put more colors next to it.