{"id":51,"date":"2015-07-22T14:07:11","date_gmt":"2015-07-22T14:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.katepaintsamural.com\/?p=51"},"modified":"2015-10-20T23:51:17","modified_gmt":"2015-10-20T23:51:17","slug":"design-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.katepaintsamural.com\/?p=51","title":{"rendered":"Design Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>Making a 106-foot-long, 781 square foot painting is no small feat. I can\u2019t just show up with some brushes and a few tubes of paint and crank it out in a day or two. Although still a painting, this painting is totally different from the ones I usually make, requiring extensive planning and forethought. I begin every painting with lots of drawings and compositional sketches, but things always flow and change once I have the paint on the canvas. This project doesn\u2019t afford me the same level of flexibility for a few different reasons. First, it\u2019s enormous. Everything is scaled up, including the amount of time it takes to make adjustments. Painting, repainting, and making small adjustments isn\u2019t really an option. Second, I\u2019m using latex exterior house paint instead of my usual oil paint \u2013 and lots of it. Latex paint is thin and watery, and can\u2019t really be laid out on a palette and mixed the way oil paint can be. I have to select and map out distinct colors before I even start painting. And third, it\u2019s a commissioned, publicly viewed work of art. The design must meet my own high standards, yes, but it is also about creating something amazing for the client and for the community. And that\u2019s a tall order.\n

All this being said, I started this painting the only way I know how: with a pencil and a sketchbook. I first began planning this mural with my friend Elena. Elena is the one who introduced me to the project, and she was originally going to paint it herself. However, she soon accepted a job in Nicaragua and later another in Guatemala so the project fell to me. We had discussed ideas of abstract color shapes or stripes, but a second meeting with the condo board at Engleside revealed their interest in an image that referenced the location of the condo \u2013 within historic Arlington and along Lee Highway, the pathway to Key Bridge and to Washington. And that\u2019s when I looked to my sketchbook. After soliciting the condo residents for their ideas about Washington and Arlington landmarks, I filled pages of my sketchbooks with simplified and geometric representations of these places. I later solicited the entire Arlington community for more ideas through my Facebook page and blog.<\/p>\n