When I create my murals, I usually start with an idea or a theme from the client and create an imaginary scene. By contrast, most of my commissioned paintings are based on a photo or maybe a couple of photos to re-create an actual scene or subject.
My most recent commissioned painting project, however, was more like my mural work – and then some! My client had spent time in Mexico years ago and remembered it fondly. To recapture his experience and add a little flair, he asked that I create a scene on a 5 foot by 3 foot canvas. Some of the elements in the painting were from photos – specifically the San Cristobal cathedral, an old pickup truck and Mayan ruins. The trick was to combine these along with many more subjects he requested in the painting… He wanted the characters to all be skeletons – with a truck driver smoking a cigar and flirting with a dancer, a guitar player with Pacifica beer bottles, a formal couple looking on, a zapatista soldier, a dachshund skeleton, a quetzal bird, a background street market, Mexican and zapatista flags and so on.
Because of the complexity and number of things I needed to fit into the scene, I started with a pencil drawing that I sent to my client so I could make revisions of things he wanted to tweak or add. Below is an image of my drawing.
Once we had an approved drawing – I was on to the canvas!
As usual, I used oil paints – starting with the sky, mountains and cathedral -- and then moving my way forward to the foreground. While doing this, I was careful choosing my colors to make sure everything was well balanced (knowing the whole painting would be very colorful!).
Below is the final result! After weeks of painting, I was thrilled that my client was ecstatic when he saw the completed piece!
Enjoy!!
Jason
