Mural Finished and Delivered!

Customer is delighted, and artists is happy it is finished.  This mural is very reflective of the flora and fauna of the St. Sebastian River, sans the alligators which would probably have put it over the top.  This posting is dated over a month after delivery, but thankfully I had photos of all of it before it was delivered.  Here it is completed, patched together with Photoshop, as best I could with available irregular lighting with a standard camera.

"Along the St. Sebastian River" 4-1/2' x 15' Acrylic (c) by Judy Burgarella 2016

Animals included in this mural: Barred Owl, Ibis, Sandhill Cranes, Spoonbills, Florida Panther, Snowy Egret.

Following is a closer look at some of the elements of this painting.

Below is the first 1/4 section of the painting.  Oak trees like this are all along the river, peeking out from clusters of palm trees, with Spanish moss dangling from its rugged branches.  It's fascinating how many plants can live on and among its branches in this tropical climate.

Section 1 of 4-1/2 x 15-foot canvas

Below, a special request for a barred owl.  I chose to make him in flight in order to display the wonderful patterns on his wings.

Barred Owl

Ibis, with bromilead and morning glories

Sandhill Cranes

This second section features a cabbage palm, saw palmettos and other shrubs and grasses

Section 2

Section 3 features spoonbills and a Florida panther.  Also a pair of slash pines, a spider lily and yellow lantana can be seen.

Section 3

Detail of Section 3 - Florida panther and snowy egret

Detail of Section 3 - Spoonbills

Below is the last section of this mural, a nice trailer.

Section 4, with egret launching from the dead branch

This mural was a joy to paint, and has all the animals in it that I have seen down here.  I love them all, but my favorites are the sandhill cranes.  Friendly lovely creatures who fly with such dignity, protect their young so lovingly, and court with a dance like no other.

Hope you have enjoyed following this blog, I have enjoyed sharing it with you.

Judy Burgarella,
Artist and Blogger

Ready for Edits!

Phew!  All major elements are finally in, and I am ready for my "re-do's."  "Re-do's" are actually mistakes, mostly in composition or perspective, which is a common occurrence when doing such a complicated large landscape.  It poses a problem when you use references that are mostly made up or compilations of many different images that may be incompatible in light or perspective.  Wasn't able to devote too much time to the piece in a couple of days so was glad to get going on it today for a while.  Tomorrow I will be getting ready for my "Nude with Drape" painting demo and class on Thursday at the Sebastian River Art Club, so I probably won't have time to work on it.  

Bobcat-unfinished

 I reshaped some of the grasses and sawgrass and painted this little fellow in.  Not happy with his face though, as with the photo reference I used his head was in an awkward position.  I had to shorted the little palm to fit the cat in.  I'll revisit the bobcat again, which is on the far section "D" and one of the last corrections I'll be making.

Three Ibis

 These three ibis were painted from a photo I took in my neighbor's yard, and the three ibis were on the same branch like this, with actually a white egret at the end.  Many times in my neck of the woods you see several different kinds of birds feeding and congregating together.  No problems.   I added the bromeliad on the tree crotch, exactly like the one in our own oak tree.

Final shoreline shrubs on right side of canvas

Finally closed up the forefront shoreline with some shrubs, tall grasses and creeping vines, further closing that gap up by extending the encroaching saw palmetto.

Looking forward to putting the finishing touches on it and getting my living room back, as we installed hangers on our biggest wall to accommodate it, shoving all our furniture around.  It is actually fun to wake up to it in the morning and view the progress, as many times I work on it at night with no phones or other interruptions.  It's really an epic piece, interesting to look at.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Judy Burgarella

Blogger