On Closer Inspection....

 

More Chapel Details...

As You Can see, Dear Readers, I found a few more places in The Chapel murals that needed some work before I could declare them complete. The above picture shows a narrow edge of unfinished wall tucked behind the central column at the Chapel's side. The column, when put in it's final location, would conceal this edge from the view in the front opening side wall. But if the viewer happened to be looking in through the Great Hall Doorway to the Chapel... this unpainted section is clearly visible!

 

As you can see from this angle looking through that doorway. 

(The Chapel would not be this brightly lit.... but still...

 that unfinished corner would bug me!)

 

Here that corner has been painted.... you can see

 the Central Column is not in place in this shot.

 

Here you can see the close-up with the Column in place... 

the shadow of the post obscures the painted area, 

but the white would have been visible.

 

And the view from inside The Great Hall 

with the Central Column in place. 

I am so glad I thought to look 

before I had glued the Column in place!

 

Here you can see the Last Judgement portion of the ceiling 

waiting for me to paint those demons in the lower corner.

 

 Here you can see the piece of trim that 

"goes around the corner" and sits at the top of the wall. 

The demons need to seem to be climbing out of the fiery earth....

 

And while I am working on those Demons,

 I noticed that I still had not painted the second layer of green 

for the grass throughout this scene... so I got right to it! 

Here it is half painted.... it adds such a layer of richness

 and intensity to the painting!

 

And here the grass has been done and I am working on the Demons. 

I found it surprisingly difficult to paint the demons!

 They just aren't my usual imagery 

and I don't have a thing for ghoulish.....

 

I had to study my reference books to get me going....

 

As with all these images.... they are very small... 

but need to make a powerful statement...

 

Here are the two on the ceiling panel.....

 

And with the trim panel held in place so you can see them together. 

I do think the red one is my best....

 

 And I hope you are not surprised, Dear Readers, 

to learn that I noticed a few more unfinished details

 while contemplating those demons. 

They sit directly above an array of Saints' portraits

  which arch over the main doorway. 

Those Saints were painted years ago... 

back at the very beginning of the Chapel construction... 

but which Saints are they?

 I had to go back into my archives to discover their names.

 

And as with many things Medieval, I wanted 

to incorporate their names into their picture 

so future viewers would know who they were seeing up there.

 There are plenty of examples of Illuminated texts

 with this sort of clue added to the pictures,

 so I felt bold enough to try it for myself. 

The hard part, is that this is the right hand wall.... 

I could not get my right hand in at the right angle to do the lettering.

 I had to use my left hand, even though I am right handed!

 

It was slow.... very slow and very careful work

 using my micron black ink pen. 

The wall surface is annoyingly rough 

and the letters are small...

 freehand, no pencil or sketching... 

just wing it! 

But I got it done! 

And now you know their names.

 

And yes, the arched door frame is still not glued in place...

 it sits patiently waiting for the final moment.

 

And while looking more carefully at the already "finished"

 trim panel above the Madonna and Child painting

 (the very first part of the Chapel to be started...)...

 I happened to notice some of the red paint

 on those red and gold arches was lamentably pale... 

and had clearly Not received a second coat of paint 

all those years ago! 

I am so glad I noticed now while the access is easy!

 

Here it is completed. 

The differences is subtle... but real!

 

And how could I ignore the Crucifixion painting, Dear Readers, 

where the figure of Mary is painted partly on one wall

 and partly on the next.... and they don't quite meet accurately!

 Alas, this is that dreaded right hand wall.... 

I cannot get my right hand to paint at that angle. 

Or so I thought! 

I was able to get the paintbrush snaked between

 the candlestick and the wall to add just a tiny sliver

 of white paint to extend Mary's cloak around her head.... 

and added the blue layer before 

remembering to take any pictures..... 

but here you can see it shapes her face better this way. 

 

I also added the lettering to the scroll at the top of the Cross

 (again, using my left hand).

 

And then I added detail to the eyes and mouth on Mary.

 Just the tiniest dabs of darker colors. 

But now she can clearly "see".

 

And the blood of Jesus's wounds. 

This painting is very difficult to see

 from the outer side of the Chapel... 

so I contented myself with these 

layers of detail and left the rest alone.

 

Which brings us to putting all the parts together

 and seeing how it looks.....!

 

Here is the Chapel with the flash... 

I never think the flash does it justice...

perhaps we should try it with just the candles lit?

 

Here is the inner Chapel with just the candles 

(and daylight too) showing the Crucifixion panel...

 

And the Moses panel... I know... 

outside of the inner chapel you can't see much...

 

 So I have added the flash... 

here is the Nativity and Crucifixion side 

along with the Last Judgement over the doorway.

 

 And the Altar with the Madonna and Child 

and God in Heaven above, 

between the Moses and Crucifixion panels.

 

And closeup on The Crucifixion panel...

 

And closeup of the Moses panel and much of the Noah panel 

which stands outside the inner Chapel...

 

And the Adam and Eve panel 

below the Creation scenes on the ceiling...

 

 

And another look at the Last Judgement

 scene with the Demons..... have I missed anything...? 

 

Heavens, Dear Readers, 

On closer inspection 

I do believe I have finished 

the Chapel painting details! 

(With the exception of the 

Opening Wall doors that is....) 

 

The Chapel Ceiling.....

 

 Slowly But Surely....

I Hope you will understand, Dear Readers, why it takes so long to make so little progress on such a small piece of the painted ceiling in The Chapel of my Castle dollhouse. For one thing, the paintbrushes I use are small to tiny in size. For another, I have to mix the paints to the right color blends and consistency as I need them, and being acrylic paints they dry quickly... which is good in one sense but means I am constantly mixing more and using only a tiny tiny bit in a teeny tiny space in a little specific corner of this ceiling before needing to use a slightly different color and so on! The Triangular area of The Judgement scene is 5 inches tall by 10 inches wide at the widest, the angels are all less than two inches tall and the people are 1 inch at the most..... it is slow and careful going! But when I get started the hours can disappear, and bit by bit the figures become what they were meant to be. I finally got back into it last week... just painting the features on the angels' faces... then outlining all the human bodies...

And starting in on the Angels' robes... 

and forgetting to take many photos...

Adding details to their wings, 

another layer of blue to the background

and starting in on the devils.... All in a days work!

And then because the morning sun was shining into the Chapel

 I needed to take a bunch of pictures while the light was so beautiful...

And you can see how the Judgement Scene arches over the doorway...

 with Christ's birth on one side and his death on the other...

The Madonna and Child over the altar.... 

Christ on the right and Moses on the left...

The incomplete Creation Scenes above the Adam and Eve Temptation....

 completely washed out by the direct sunlight....

And the whole ceiling in one shot... 

revealing how much there still is to do!

And working on the Creation Scenes again.... 

adding the faces to the suns in the rest of the scenes...

which was all I accomplished that day...

Because some days, Dear Readers, the slowness of the progress

 is due to my own uncertainty about what to do...

 first... next.... before... after..... what color... how much..... 

and fixing tiny oopses.... 

the Moon faces were particularly challenging here, 

being each about 3/16th of an inch across!

And the oh so tiny details on the leafy trees.... 

in two additional shades of green...

not to mention the flowering blooms

 with an entirely other green...

And starting to add more grassy ground plants...

And adding the grassy ground around Adam and Eve....

never quite sure when to stop.

And the next day starting to add layers and details to the beasts...

Bit by bit making them sort of recognizable... 

the Medieval painter had a fairly standard list of beasts to include.

Here the beasts are mostly completed...

 the ox and the horse, the sheep and the hare, 

the boar and the stag, the camel and the dog... (or wolf)....

Here they are even closer... 

each Creation "world" is about 2 inches across...

And adding a little more outline definition to Adam and Eve... 

I will have to decide if they need more.

And that is as far as I got, Dear Readers,

 adding tiny bits of paint and Slowly but Surely

 making progress on the Chapel Ceiling!

A Little Bit of This....

 

A Little Bit of That....

I Left You, Dear Readers, with the Creation of Adam and Eve barely begun as I waited for the ink to dry before painting could begin. And the Very next day I did begin the painting process for that Roundel. I have included that inked-only photo above, because when I began to paint I didn't take any good enough pictures of the process to show the beginning part. These ceiling panels are curved so the camera sometimes focuses on a part of the curved surface leaving the rest out of focus. I will include the blurry shot anyway, but I wanted you to know why!

Here you can see I began with the flesh tones for Adam and Eve.

Then I forgot to take pictures for a while!

Because I was jumping around.

Here you can see the ceiling propped against the opening wall

as close to its correct position as I could put it.

 I wanted to see how the ceiling scenes looked

 in relation to the windows and the two wall sections.

I have penciled in the areas that will have a scene painted. 

Between the windows will be The Annunciation

 and on the right will probably be The Tower of Babel.

And as I was lining up the frames, 

I noticed a missing detail on the Ceiling panel!

 

Here you can see I am adding two 

"Golden Rays" from the head of God,

 directed to the place on the opening wall

 that will tie them to The Annunciation 

and Saint Anne (who will be in one of the windows.) 

And because there is a lot of waiting

 for small amounts of paint to dry,

 I am jumping from place to place...

The Rainbow in The Judgement scene was calling to me...

And then as I turned around... 

I noticed the sunlight shining into my house 

and striking the Peter and Paul Window in the Chapel!

It only shines in at this angle for a brief spell

 in the Fall as the Equinox draws near...

But Oh My Goodness it fills the Chapel 

with such a beautiful light!

But it only lasts for a moment or two and then is gone.

And I return my attention to the opening walls...

Here I am showing the "pillars" which will be

 attached after the windows are constructed.

I needed to have them available so I can

 position the ceiling arches in the right places.

And here I am trying to get a sense of

 the Judgement scene's relationship with the wall...

This is with the arch sections in place...

 trying to see how the demons from Hell

(on the bottom at the right)

look when viewed from "inside" the Chapel.

(As if you could stand in there!)

It seems to me I need to adjust the way

 the "ground" slants to the arch below.

But before I figure that out.....

I decide to add the "cloud" shadowing

 in the borders of the Roundels.

I think of these as like those "thought bubbles"

 in modern cartoons...

 revealing the idea in image not words....

Here they have all been added.... 

don't worry... 

there will be more details eventually!

As I mentioned before, Dear Readers, 

 I am trying to get an idea of the overall color balance

 among all the parts of the ceiling...

And The Judgement was way behind in execution.

Fleshing out the naked bodies...

Adding the purple robes of Christ..

The coffins that have floated to the surface

 like so many boats on water...

And I keep testing it in place....

 

I wanted to shift the Demons a bit lower onto the wall...

Holding the arch section in place to try to line up the edges..

Adding details to Christ and the angels....

Wings, halos, hair, trumpets....

And then circling back to the Creation scenes...

Here I have added details to the water....

and the trunks of the trees....

And Hair for Adam and Eve...

And lots more plants.....

And changed my mind about Eve's hair...

 it was too dark...

And going all out on a richer bluer sky!

Once the background is darkened these will stand apart as lighter.

I wanted the birds to stand out against the sky...

And I Love what it does to the Moon!

And I need to see it in place again....

It is night again... so this is with flash...

which distorts the contrast...

But I feel like I am making progress!

Here I have added details to Adam and Eve...

and bright red flowers to the landscape.

 

 Here... you can see a little closer...

Some days this is all I accomplish...

And others....

All I add is structural framework...

Here the frame for The Garden of Eden

 has been painted.

And on the opening wall I have added 

the blue portions to the walls.

Starting to paint the arches...

These are really just underpainting to get the positioning correct.

Eventually there will be some "three dimensional" arches 

to go above these windows... just like on the rest of the walls.

Except that these have to fit around the opening doors...

which will be a challenge when I get to it!

And with the pillars in place...

You can start to get a feel for how this wall

 will look in relation to the ceiling.

Then I changed my mind about

 the framework for The Annunciation....

I want it to mirror the Framework of 

The Madonna and Child over the altar....

on the opposite wall of the Chapel.

And with the pillars and the ceiling propped in place...

I think I am starting to get a feel for this wall.

As you can see, Dear Readers.....

I am hopping all over the place...

But a little bit of this and a little bit of that 

Adds up to a Whole Lot of progress!