The Mural Continues part 6

Big changes on the mural since my last shift on the scaffold a week ago. New deep background buildings had been added over the weekend- condos under the route 35 bridge at the far left, houses under the Main Street drawbridge at the far right. Helps fill the space and establish more depth, as well as provide better separation between the water and sky. And the sky itself was lightened nearer the horizon, to reflect typical atmospheric colors.

Tonight Pat worked on the middle deep background between the rail bridges and the boat, a previously underdeveloped area of the mural. Still has a little ways to go, but it better fits in with the work done at the far ends, tying it together. Click on the top photo to see for yourself.

Meanwhile I set to work on the left side, dealing with the two railroad bridges. From our Siperstein's supply I selected 3 colors- Chamois Shirt (light brown), Harbor Blue (medium light), and Grand Grape (very dark blue). I first mixed them to make a fairly neutral gray, which I put over the dark areas above the wooden piers under the raised bascule rail drawbridge. I blended the same color with a little found blue/green and used it on the concrete pier under the water end of the fixed girder bridge that extends from the left edge. Still pretty neutral, but it separates well from the grays, browns, and blues all around. I then took the the gray and added more of the Grand Grape color to give it a little more blue, and used it to paint the spaced rectangles on the girder bridge, part of simulating the plate and beam structure. My labors are featured in the bottom photo. I will need to go back into the girder bridge another time, repainting parts with the straight Grand Grape color to emphasize the 3D aspects, as well as putting in some railings and other details, but that can wait a few days.