Last stages of the Mural

All that remains are some touch ups. I'm not sure how I feel. In a way I am disappointed that the Maori design running along the top has fallen short of my vision.

I must say, I've been very fortunate with PPG Industries donating the paint and equally Somerset school asking me to paint the mural.



The weather in Palmerston North has been one of the hottest summers for a very long time. Hot consecutive days of sunshine. The heat in New Zealand is a lot more intense and the chance of burning is very high due to the depletion of the ozone layer so the radiation of the sun intensifies the rays of the sun. An Australian 46 degrees centigrade is a 28 degrees centigrade here in NZ  and you are still more likely to burn faster in our temperature more than  Australia.

The Star of Bethlehem

Untitled as of yet I see a star rather than a snowflake. I can see some changes I need to make to create more balance. Maybe I should look up the name of the Southern star and see how it fits the pastel work. Maybe I could title it The Star of Bethlehem. I love the fact that I have no fear to ask myself questions and listen for an answer. I like the title The Star of Bethlehem. I shall tidy up where I need to and have it framed. This pastel is A3 sized.

Acrylic Painting

Medium: Acrylic 

Title: Kahurangi (blue)

Size: 36"x 12"x 1"(91.5cm x30.5cm x2.5cm)

Price: $50.00 NZD

 The Maori word for blue is Kahurangi.

This is one of a series I intend to do using smaller canvas', better quality canvas' and better quality paints as well to make them more affordable for those less on a lower budget.

So close to completion

Following the children's theme I added some sports items that are played at the school and have added faces to the children, in a semi cartoonist style. After working on cleaning up line-work I hope to have one days remaining work to have this mural completed.

A slow weekend

A rather slow weekend this time around. I began a pastel on Sunday and have a few touch-ups which I will do tomorrow. I spent a few hours on the Somerset school mural today. Rain played it's part in the early departure. I spent most of the time making colour changes to clothing and tidying up my line-work.
I  do have a painting to photograph and place on here. With luck I will do that tomorrow.

Work in progress

Well, I'm now on what I hope to be the last 3 days to complete this mural, although the weather does play it's part.

 The wall is approx 7.2 meters long. If you wish to view this in person the mural is at Somerset school, Palmerston North, NZ.

It has taken approx 1.5 weeks to get to this stage.

I spent the day working on a mural at Somerset school today. I should have it finished in a few more days. It's looking pretty good so far. I made some templates for the mural. It was my first attempt at making them and true to order I made a complete mess of it.  Long story short, I fixed the problem and have used the first template today. I've decided to take tomorrow off and do a bit of carving. 

Today I spent 3 hours working on a carving of a Gecko in a contemporary style. 
I've come to accept that mistakes happen for a reason. Nearing the last stages of the carving and realising that one of the back legs is too far from the front leg, of which I had recognised quite early on, I decided to take the only step forward, and that was to forget what I could not put back( the lost wood) and focus on creating contours, nice movement and flow and make the best from a bad situation. I cannot deny that I am not disappointed but I can learn from this and take what I learn into my next carving. 
All I need now is some fine weather and a week or so, and I should be able to place a photo of the finished product on here.
It would be great if someone could leave some feedback.
Cheers.

At present I am working on a few different pieces of art. A bone carving, two wood carvings and a stone sculpture. I hope to put these on my blog as soon as possible.

MURAL COMMISSIONS

I am available to create children's murals within New Zealand for public and private premises inside and outside.
I charge $20-$25hr with a free 30min consultation  
Please feel free to contact me on:
mobile/txt 0210750695
email: darrengosling@hotmail.com

Left is the before shot of a mural commission in 2011 on the corner of Botanical Rd and Featherston St.










Right is the completed commission in 2011.