Flower Fairy Mural

This room was so much fun to paint, and the little girl we painted it for was a sweetie.

"Pixie dust" was sprinkled around all the flower fairies.

I added a personal touch by putting Abbie's name on the tree house.

View of the completed bedroom

Pam Tullos worked with me on this job. Here is detail of the cute little boy she painted on the beanstalk.

To view more murals, please visit my website at Creative Wall Designs. 

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Heidelberg Schloss

 

To view or purchase my original paintings, please visit Chris Brandley Originals

Painting Progression: Grapevine

Grapevine

The above is a painting I did the other day of some grapes. This is the progression: I begin by sketching the main shapes in, and then fill in all of the negative space with thinned down paint, about the consistency of watercolors. At this point, I don't worry too much about color as I will be building up layers of paint, getting thicker with the top layers.

  My main goal is to cover the white and use colors in the general color scheme I plan to paint with. I lay in thinned colors of the leaves and the grapes.                                  




Again, I'm not too worried about using the exact color tones. This 1st layer is painted very quickly so I can get the white canvas colored. (sometimes I will tint the canvas a solid color (light pink or sienna tones, or other depending on the subject matter) before I even start the drawing process. This way, as I begin to work details I don't have to worry about white specks of canvas showing through, and it gives the painting a nice glow. Now I can hone in on detail and color.

I want this painting to have contrast and I want it to illuminate, so I've decided to make the background a dark olive color. I continue to keep the olive color fairly thin, but not as thin as the 1st layer. I begin adding some of the details to the leaves and vines, and I create shadows and variations in color. It's important to think about light source and how it affects different surfaces to create  shadows.

I want the painting to have movement and interest, so I pick up some of the colors I will be using in the grapes and add subtle touches into the background. This also creates hints of other leaves that might be behind the main subject. Creating lights and darks on the grapes will give them the illusion of depth. You don't always have to highlight with warm colors. As you can see on the grapes that will be more in shadow (lower grapes), I've used light blues and greens to highlight.

I want the top grapes to be illuminated so I use much warmer tones, but to create consistency I still use touches of the surrounding colors.







Final results:

To buy prints of this painting, click here: prints of "Grapevine"

To buy the original painting, click here: Grapevine Original Painting

Bathroom Transformation: From Mediocre to Medieval

I went to Florida to visit my dad, a retired Air Force Colonel,  a few months ago to help him with his bathroom renovation. He had recently returned from a trip to Germany, and was inspired by the beautiful, Medieval Castles. He decided to take his master bathroom way back in time by giving it a Middle-aged, European ambiance. When he decides to do something, he doesn't just take it half way. I guess this is partly where I get my creativity from. 
By the time I arrived, he had already gutted the entire bathroom.

Dad's bathroom;  Before renovation

Dad's custom cabinets

My job was to transform the white bathroom doors and the cabinets he had just custom built out of mdf (medium density fiberboard, an engineered wood).

The goal was to make them look as if they had been around for centuries. I used layers of products to get that "aged", dark rich wood look, and added an embossed design, highlighted in luscious golds and silvers. Dad had purchased some unfinished beams that were made of condensed Styrofoam, that my step mom and I  faux finished to look like real wooden beams for the ceiling.
 

condensed Styrofoam that I transformed into aged ceiling beams

Dad transformed the rest of the room by hanging fabricated stone on the walls, laying new tile, and adding exquisite lighting and fixtures. We worked long days but managed to take a refreshing break once or twice.














                                                                 

The results... 

                                                         

To see more of my decorative art or hire me (Dallas/Ft. Worth area) to faux finish your walls, ceilings, cabinetry, etc., please visit Creative Wall Designs
To purchase original oil or acrylic paintings, click on Chris Brandley Originals