Wednesday, November 10, 2021

More Painting...

 

 


And Those Patient Saints...

You Might recall, Dear Readers, that I had recently added the paint to the opening doors for the Great Hall section of the Castle. But I had only done the base coats of primer and the pale gray. The arched wall of this side of the Castle had been painted a long time ago, so I thought I had better get the rest of the inside painting completed. This required that I remove the front wall (it has only been screwed in place for this reason) so that I could get the rocks on the two sides of the opening doors to be properly matched when seen from the inside. Not that anyone will be seeing it from the inside very often, as this requires that I get the camera inside through the interior doors to the Great Hall.... but I would hate to have it look wrong on those few occasions! 

The method is the same as that used for the other walls.
First I paint the "courses" of the rocks...


And then I determine the proper spacing of the verticals...
Trying to make them as they would need to be in a real wall...
"two over one and one over two" is the standard recipe.
This means the vertical edges are never supposed to be
 right over the previous row's vertical edges.


And then I added the rough "texturing" of the rocks.
This is meant to be very "sketchy" and not detailed.


And finally, the grout lines are added.
This is when they start to be convincing as "rocks"!
(It surprises me every time!)

But you might also remember, Dear Readers,
 that I have been trying to complete
 the Ceiling of the Great Hall for ages and ages.
And every time I start to work on it, 
I realize something else is needed first.
But I have decided that it would be great if
 I could just get those Patient Saints finished!


So while the front wall was removed,
 I also removed the ceiling and set it up on my "easel"
(really just a chair with the ceiling propped across the arms.)
I had even made a list long ago of all the tiny things
 that needed to be worked on.
Saint Elizabeth was easy... only the floor lacked details.
The grid was drawn for tiles... all I had to do was decorate them!


Of course I had started to paint them 
before I remembered to take a "before" picture!
So you can see the first ones have been given a pink color.


I added a red dot to the center of each pink tile.
That was all I need to do for Saint Elizabeth!

And I neglected to take "before" pictures from them on...


You will have to take my word for it that
 Saint Hedwig needed details added to her seat
 and Saint Marc needed extra layer "clean-up" around his halo.


Mary Magdalene needed only 
some touch-ups around the framework.
Saint John needed details in his hair,
 the eagle's talons, and the writing on his scroll.
And some framework touch-ups too.
The truth is that any number of other layers and trims and 
"clean-ups" could be added as well... 
but they are not "needed" to complete the image.
I did not get any work done on the other half of the ceiling...


But I turned it around so they are now ready to be completed too!
I am sure if you look carefully you will spot some of the missing pieces.


Meanwhile, I finished adding the grout lines.


And I reattached the front wall.
Here you can see the doors open...
(I do apologize for the dark pictures...
 It is so dark in the evenings now!)


And now you can see the Great Hall from the interior...
with the flash turned on... and the ceiling not in place...
Well... flash does reveal all the flaws!
But I think it is starting to look like I hoped it would!
 
So that's what I have been doing, Dear Readers,
 just a little more painting on the Walls,
 and those Patient Saints.


8 comments:

  1. Oh Betsy! I am so excited to see these saints receiving their finishing details! Not only do we get the treat of seeing them again up close, we get to see how just by adding a few more details, the characters seem to come alive! I know I say this all the time, but your talent for painting delights me, and I am ever amazed at how you can make an ordinary, flat surface become the convincing backdrop that pulls me into the story! This castle is truly a magnificent work of art, and it just gets more enchanting with every painted stroke!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh that's gorgeous! I love how they look. Perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  3. A marvelous ceiling. The castle is a museum piece. to be kept under a glass cover. Fantastic work!
    Hugs,
    Drora

    ReplyDelete
  4. To say it with St. John's scroll: Halleluja - so much wonderful progress! It's always amazing to see how plain wood boards magically transform into rock walls with every painting step (but I agree, it's always the last step that really puts the spell on it). And regarding how big the space is that you need to paint with all these different and time consuming steps it's always stunning how fast you work. And just looking at picture 13 shows so well that all the time and effort was totally worth it... what an impressive view inside!

    And now to the patient Saints... well, apart from them being Saints I really suppose they can take being patient easily because they know well that waiting for you to take out your brushes again is worth every while. Whenever you're working on them again you blow me away - only you would add those tiny pink dots. ;O) But we all know it's those details which make it so very special... and even if those details will be hardly visible anymore once this spectacular, awesome and most beautiful painted ceiling will be finally installed... we all will know they are there.

    I can hardly wait to see more progress with those patient Saints. But knowing now that they're still placed on your easel... eh... chair... well, they should have a good chance to be on your to-do-list soon. But remember - the highest priority should go to St. Nick and St. Lucia. You should take care about their details soon to make sure they're shining on their big days at Dec 6th and Dec 13th. Let's not forget... this big holiday which shall not be named is coming nearer... although this scares me this year for other reasons.

    Hugs
    Birgit

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice work on all parts of the project.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gosh Betsy - that ceiling is just spectacular!! I can't see anything missing so will have to take your word for it :)
    Oh, how I wish I could paint! Every time I see your (painting) progress, I am just mesmerized by the detail of your art.
    Anna X

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good work Betsy! Another few steps and you will be done here! Doesn’t it feel great when you get something done that has been sitting around for so long? Especially when it is pretty quick like finishing the saints. They are looking great!

    ReplyDelete
  8. You who are blocked from the doors of your job, you have a permanent concern for money, you lack financial support to meet your needs and realize your dreams. I received a loan of 55000 euro and two of my colleagues also received loans from this man without any difficulty because I came across the right person. Here is his E-mail: pierrecombaluzier18@gmail.com

    E-mail: pierrecombaluzier18@gmail.com
    E-mail: pierrecombaluzier18@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete