Artist Journal 8-22-07 by UCA student Kerry Tindall

Design with grid

First sketch on wall

First sketch on wall

Mural site primed

UCA student Kerry Tindall at work

Scaffolding being erected

Filigree in sky is being drawn

Filigree in sky is being drawn

Filigree in sky is being drawn

First sketch of large arm on wall

Flying kid is roughed in as Kerry

works

Student Artist Journal
Kerri Tindall

8/13/07 Monday Scaffolding is being constructed.

8/14/07 Tuesday Meeting with teachers at Mike’s Place then met at city hall to brainstorm ideas for the dedication on the 6th of October. Several ideas, from trashcan decorating to sidewalk chalk, were discussed. Morton showed a power point presentation of the recent projects he has been working on. This seemed like a time to get to know the local art teachers and the opportunities for the children in the local area through field trips to the mural site.

8/15/07 Wednesday This was the first day of actual preparation of the brick surface that will be the canvas for the new community mural. We used a white primer to cover the entire surface of the brick sealing the surface for the acrylic paint that is being used to create the mural. The priming was not time consuming or difficult-Paint, brush, cover-very simple. We were able to get a majority of the wall completed today.

8/16/07 Thursday Returned to find the remainder of the wall completed. We did go back over any areas that needed a second coat of primer to protect the life of the mural. Once this was completed, we used a chalk line, level and tape measure to create a twelve inch by twelve-inch grid over the entire wall. We started with the horizontal lines and then the vertical lines.

8/17/07 Friday Figures were placed on the grid in the appropriate places with pencil. Morton started on the largest girl in the foreground with paint. I started laying in the horizon line in the middle ground and two other students came and positioned other figures in the areas that they needed to be.

8/20/07 Monday OH HAPPY DAY! As a young artist, you do not really want to make those “big” mistakes, yet we do. We make mistakes, learn from our mistakes, and continue. When using grids make sure that all concerned are counting from the same beginning block. I was one block off throwing everything to the right twelve inches. After taking the majority of this day correcting my error I continued with the contour drawing on the grid. This part seems to be time consuming and a process that is very tedious. I realize the importance of accuracy. Without accuracy, the composition will not be rendered, as the mural should.

8/21/07 Tuesday We are continuing to place figures on the grid. We have the three historical figures, the teacher, and four sesame street characters drawn in. We are working to complete the contour drawings of the dispatcher and conductor. Morton has the largest figure partially painted in and is working on the filigree parts of the composition. This is truly a team effort to complete what we have in less than one week.



Student Artist Journal
Kerri Tindall


A student’s perspective:

I was at the first brainstorming meeting back in February of this year and a couple of meetings since. I realize how much information is taken into consideration to bring this mural to a final composition ready to paint. With no experience in working on a large-scale paintings, drawings or sketches this mural was very over whelming. One observation I made in the initial process is that the wall is so large. When you look at the pictures on the web page or the print outs it does not compare to the large scale that the composition takes on. Morton expressed that we have to imagine in our mind on a larger scale. Even in the grid process, standing directly on the scaffolding takes things out of perspective. You can get lost easily if you do not keep an eye on the grid lines. Another observation was when the line drawings of the figures started to take place. The more figures drawn, the more you can relate to the composition as the mural that it is intended to be. Another factor that is taken into consideration is the weather. The heat has been almost intolerable last week. This week has been cooler and makes the work much more enjoyable. Over all, the hard work, the mistakes and corrections, and the learning process have been worth all the heat that we have endured so far. I am pleased at the progress that we have made and am looking forward to seeing where we are at this time next week.