Painting a Mural for a Church

I was asked by the pastor of a local church if I would be interested in painting a mural. Despite some doubts (not least of which was the practicalities of working on scaffolding up to ceiling height), I said yes and before I knew it I was presenting a slideshow of ideas at a church meeting.

My brief from this first meeting was to present three scenes in one: the cross, the tomb, and the ascension of Christ. I began evaluating the mural space – a 9x23 feet rectangle with a peak at the center -- to find the appropriate style and approach to fulfill the church's needs.

I sketched out my composition onto two sheets of paper I’d stuck together. (Later I gridded it up into inch squares to help me transfer the design to the wall.) I wanted to put some landscape (trees or shrubs) between each scene to make it look more natural. I did some research on the Internet to see what the landscape in the area in Israel actually looks like, then mixed in a little artistic license.

In order to place the emphasis of the mural the ascension, I deliberately placed dark clouds over the crosses, used medium tones over the tomb, and light tones over the ascension. The crowd looking up initially looked a little unnatural to me and I needed to make the figures feel as if they belonged. I feel I achieved this in the final mural through the placement of the tree and the landscape receding behind them.