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I’ve not shared this on Twitter yet so here goes.... It’s a tale of art, space and preventing lockdown madness. Because while lucky enough to still have work and health, the pandemic has caused anxiety induced insomnia. I know I’m not alone in that. So... this is my patio wall.
That wall pictured a few days ago is, believe it not, AFTER I’d cleaned it with a long handled brush. I’m not great on household maintenance inside or out. But I did fill in some cracks.... And I had a plan, some string and a pencil.
I tied the string around the pencil to draw the curves. It took a few goes to get the tension of the string right but, with a strong finger holding the other end of the string, it worked.
Painted wall pale blue - white masonry paint mixed with some leftover blue bathroom paint. I deviated a little from the plan and put two moons to the right. One outlined using a circular bread broad, the other a cereal bowl. Got tester tins of brick red and grey. Not much choice.
Then I filled in the moons using grey paint, a brush for the outline and a dish sponge for the rest. Still allowing blue background through - I wanted it like you see our moon during the day. Dish sponges rule.
Things started not to go entirely as planned when I began the planetary rings. They’re hard to do freehand on a large scale. Perspective off. But I was enjoying it and painting on breaks between editing on my lap top. Yes... it’s true. I d not brushed my hair in days.
I added some lighter paint with the sponge but felt it needed light blue, like the moons. So the giant planet went through some stages.
Sort of liked the blue but not the grey on the rings....
Realised during the day you wouldn’t see grey through the rings but sky - duh! Definitely an improvement but I wasn’t entirely happy so....
I filled it in again (it’s great when you can paint over and start over) and tried strips. Sort of a gas giant Jupiter and Saturn combo. Also....
I added a corner planet using the grey, white and brick red paint. Plus dish sponge. That worked. Still not happy with the ringed planet.
So I reworked the planet using bolder stripes (like Jupiter), the dish sponge to swipe and smear them and some dry brushing to allow the textured wall pick up some white paint.
Oh yes, and I added a rocket. Retro sci-fi style. Used thicker brush for the plume trail. One confident swoop. More pressure at the top.
So here it is. Quite a contrast to that dirty plain wall. And what I like most is that you can see the double moon system from the dining room table and the kitchen so it feels like I’m on an alien world. Which is how it feels like now with a pandemic too.
And the view from the window sill, where there’s a rocket shaped cocktail shaker, makes me smile now. So find your own landscape. Or project - big or small - and do what makes you happy. It doesn’t have to be perfect. This gave me a lot of joy. It took my mind off world. [ENDS]
![And the view from the window sill, where there’s a rocket shaped cocktail shaker, makes me smile now. So find your own landscape. Or project - big or small - and do what makes you happy. It doesn’t have to be perfect. This gave me a lot of joy. It took my mind off world. [ENDS]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EX9hTyuXsAQF20Y.jpg "And the view from the window sill, where there’s a rocket shaped cocktail shaker, makes me smile now. So find your own landscape. Or project - big or small - and do what makes you happy. It doesn’t have to be perfect. This gave me a lot of joy. It took my mind off world. [ENDS]")
