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| Mark D. Ruffner |
This week I'm concentrating on painting the masonry that will surround the doorway to my hall.
Originally, I had contemplated stonework that was aged and maybe even a little decayed, but in the end, I didn't want an element that would contrast with the freshness of the rest of the mural. Anyway, my Pompeii is not the one of ruins!
I realized, however, that the actual texture of the wall could be used to advantage, to create a rich, subtle underpainting of stone (limestone, perhaps). I started by putting light washes of earth tones on the wall. Then I rubbed away selected areas with a scouring pad.
Once that was done, I redrew the lines representing cracks, and repeated the process numerous times. While all this scrubbing created a pretty nifty stone texture, the look at this stage was not in keeping with the rest of the mural. Not to worry; I added several light washes to approximate limestone.
In making the stonework lighter, one of my goals was to make the stone and columns close in color value. Because the design is going to become increasingly more complex, it will be all the more important for each element to complement the next one.
The finished, more subtle result can be seen below.
Then it became a matter of adding the cracks, with their shadows and highlights. I did this several times. On my first try, I played around with chips and all sorts of unevenness in the lines (like the first photograph of this posting). I quickly discovered that the more regular I made my blocks, the more convincing they were. So most of my irregularities are small ones, at the corners of the blocks.
I'm not showing you the whole doorway surround for a good reason. Next week I'll be painting a panel on either side of the doorway, as though they're inset. They aren't Pompeian panels, but they'll complement the Pompeian design.
No, these are decorations that a man named Francesco della Rovere would have recognized.
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Hello Mark, Imitation ashlar stonework is one of my favorite finishes, and your rendition of it is sheer genius. Many beautiful antique American houses sport this faux ashlar, often rendered in scored stucco. One such house in Fair Haven, Connecticut, I thought was in my post about that falling-down house, but apparently not. I'll have to scare up the photos!
ReplyDeleteWith each new layer, detail, and technique for your Pompeian room, I am getting more excited to see how the next one will look.
--Jim
Hello, Jim,
DeleteThank you for introducing me to the word, "ashlar!" I have many reference photographs from books of Pompeii that reveal that the Pompeians covered brick structures with ashlar stonework, and now I can use the correct terminology. I'm also seeing a trend in St. Petersburg for new buildings with scored stucco or cast concrete that resembles stonework, and I like the look. It's very tailored.
Thanks for your encouragement — there are many layers yet to come.
Hello Mark:
ReplyDeleteWe continue to be absolutely intrigued, and not a little bit captivated, by this whole project. And to this must be added our total admiration for the quality of your work in each of its various stages.
Hello, Jane and Lance:
DeleteI am glad that you are intrigued by this gradual unveiling! I have long been intrigued by the original murals, and all the later murals that referenced them. I imagine that the Pompeians created stage settings for their daily life, and that's a perspective of home design the consciousness of which we've lost.
Mark - You are hugely talented and patient!! Very impressive attention to detail! You're making great progress, too. Look forward to seeing the entire doorway.
ReplyDeleteHi, Loi,
DeleteI'll have the entire doorway for you next week, though the panels won't be grisaille. They'll have color not unlike something Luca della Robbia would have achieved.
Dear Mark - being familiar with limestone masonry here in the Cotswolds, my own house included, I must compliment you on the excellent job you have made of painting it. Jim is spot on using the term ashlar, a term we use here indicating dressed stone.
ReplyDeleteAre we about to see a touch of the Sistine Chapel? May be you are going to do something along the lines of the Cantoria having mentioned Luca della Robbia above.
Dear Rosemary,
DeleteWhat I am painting in the doorway is not at all visually related to the Sistine Chapel, but your guess is very close nonetheless. Della Rovere rather than della Robbia is the real clue.
Seriously Mark, I've suggested this before - your talents must be in huge demand - either in home decoration such as this or in a larger market such as hotels...movie sets. Maybe I'm "teaching my grandmother to suck eggs", and you already have this covered, or maybe this is the way you're going in the future?
ReplyDeleteDear Columnist,
DeleteMy life in art has been a cycle. First, I spent time before the advent of personal computers creating art for advertising agencies, working, as they say, "on the board." When it was evident that the computer would bypass that occupation, I learned computer graphics and spent a whole new career in publishing. And as I learned to love the computer, all those years of working on the board seemed as though I had been living in the 1700s. And of course in terms of technology, I had been!
Now I'm moving into a new phase of life and work, where it gives me great pleasure to combine computer designing with brushes and paint, and I'm enjoying that balance very much.
So to answer your question, this is the way I'm going in the future, though I'm not envisioning things on quite the scale you suggest (unless I could collaborate with someone). But I would love to do home decoration projects akin to my Egyptian door, grisaille panels or the like . . .
If your name was Roy Lichtenstein:
Deletehttp://www.doylenewyork.com/asp/fullCatalogue.asp?salelot=14BP02++++75+&refno=++979167
but (even) as Mark Ruffner, I think creating a piece of art such as that with which you are decorating your room, would be quite saleable, in my opinion.
Collaboration is always something to keep in mind.
Hi again — I really enjoyed that link, and I could envision creating a whole series of work based on architectural fragments. The great fun of this room (for me, at least) is that I'm expressing that part of myself that has always enjoyed classical architecture and art history.
DeleteDear Mark, You are so right about adding several light washes on top of your painted stone walls. But your hard work was not for naught. It is precisely the darker undertones which make the end result so believable. Similar to painting a light film on top of faux marble to make it more convincing.
ReplyDeleteYour project is looking great and following your progress has been something I look forward to every week.
Dear Gina,
DeleteAdding lighter washes to create a stone finish with subtle undertones was a conscious plan, though I would not have worried about painting things out and starting over again. As those close to me know, I am my own hardest critic and ultimately the one who must live with whatever I've created.
I'm glad you're enjoying the progress — I promise you many weeks of developements!
Good morning, Mark. You continue to amaze me. Just loving this series.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, Barbara, thanks for enjoying the project!
DeleteI love painting stone, Mark. Well, in my work in the past when I had to create a castle or whatnot for a kid's book or whatever. Very soothing. :) You are doing a spectacular job. Love the combo of colors, but most of all I love your vision. :)
ReplyDeleteHi, Yvette,
DeleteI grew up in a home where every wall was always painted white, and I vowed at a young age that my own walls would have color, if not be colorful! As to my vision (thank you), I guess it's a reflection of many, many hours looking through books of art history. I never tire of that because new ideas continue to come, even from the same book sources.
Now I REALLY can hardly wait to see the complete finished space!
ReplyDeleteDear Classicist,
DeleteThank you for visiting here! I think you'll enjoy this Saturday's posting, and I promise you that there are many layers of ornament yet to come!
Yes! This is such a wonderful project. Gina is right, the more layers you add, the more they compliment each other and make a believable project. I am going old school this week working with oils and one round brush. I am so enjoying your work!
ReplyDeleteHello, Theresa,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you're enjoying this. I have to say that after so many years of creating primarily through computer graphics, it's so refreshing to work again — as you are — with paints and brushes. I don't know if I mentioned it, but the medium for this project is primarily Sherwin Williams house paints.