Chapel Update

Painting In The Chapel

For the past two weeks I have been doing my Favorite thing....... Painting on the walls .... and the ceiling.... this time in the Chapel of the Castle Dollhouse! I have made some good progress so I thought I would share it with you, Dear Readers, even though it is still a LONG way from complete. So bear with me while I explain that there is still MUCH detail missing from these paintings, especially the ceiling which has only just been started. Even so, it adds immensely to the atmosphere and gives a glimpse of what I hope it will feel like when it is all done! Here you can see that overhead above the Altar I have painted God the Father emerging from the heavens and gazing RADIANTLY down on all below! (Yes, I put glittery crystals on his eyes!)

Here is a closer view. You can also see that I have painted the Vault Ribs in the red and gold that I used around the windows. This is a view looking UP at the ceiling. (Remember that you can poke the photos to enlarge them...!)

And to one side, above the entrance doorway I have painted a series of Saints Portraits in roundels over the arch. I know, this view is a little bit too dark.... but it is Night in the Castle!

Ah, that's better.... here the ceiling has been temporarily removed (remember that I have not attached the ceilings to the rooms I am working on...) so the roundels with the portraits are clearly visible.
At the farthest left side is Saint Amand, then Saint Matthew and Saint Mark. I scoured all my Medieval Miniature Books for portraits that would reveal the character of each Saint and I have copied them here, somewhat roughly in most cases.

Here is the portrait of Saint Elizabeth, patroness of Beggars, the Embodiment of Charity, and to her right is Saint Luke the Patron of Artists and Sculptors.... sorry this photo cuts him off....

And to the farthest right is Saint John the Evangelist and then Saint Radegund who gave up a Queens crown to become a Nun and founded an Abbey....... Each of these portraits is about one inch in diameter and painted directly on the wall. The edges need a little tidying up still......

And the Painting I did THIS weekend was a rendition of the Nativity...... copied faithfully from a Miniature in a Psalter from Wurzburg painted around 1240 AD.

Here below you can see the almost completed version I painted on the Chapel wall......

And here you can see the original that I copied from.......

I used the tried and true method of making a tracing of the miniature and then transferring it to the wall by covering the back side of the drawing with graphite pencil and drawing over the original design which transfers the design to the wall beneath. Then I go over the pencil outline with a fine point Permanent India Ink Pen. Here below is the inked drawing on the wall.

Then I paint the various areas with the colors as shown in the original. This is not as easy as it sounds as matching pigments is very challenging. I allowed myself to vary the colors from the original rather than try to match them exactly. This picture shows it partly done....

And this one shows the completed Nativity scene. This Painting is about 4 inches by 5 inches!

I am VERY happy with the results!

Here is a view with the ceiling back in place and the Altar Candles lit........

There is still a long way to go.... but it is some Progress!

Just a Chapel Update