"Outside" - the "Mystery Project" revealed

Last night, June 17, Medical City Hospital in Dallas opened their new Childrens' Hospital wing with a big to-do including my painting "Outside", which hangs in the first floor reception area.
My reasoning for the title, other than the obvious reference to the imagery, is that being "outside" is equivalent with being healthy. "Outside" in the fresh air, running, playing, all those things we associate with kids being outside, and what being treated in the hospital and getting better will help us get back to. That's what I was thinking, anyway.
Here are some photos of the affair, which included a very nice steak dinner, and some elements in the waiting/reception area.
All three dimensional elements were created by the Museum Arts company of Dallas.

This is the "official" professionally photographed image of "Outside", as opposed to my previous shots from my own camera. The painting is 36 by 60 inches, acrylic on canvas.

I think this is an ice sculpture.

A tall fairy greeted partiers.

Becky and me at the Big Shots' table.


Some of our table-mates.

A large tree dominates the first floor reception area.

Inside the tree are two "funhouse" mirrors.

The tree continues to the second floor. I don't think the "fairy" is usually there.

Becky with another "fairy". Apparently they weren't supposed to speak, since none of them did.

A few of the party guests.

Ad agency Avrea Foster art director Lisa Goin, account executive Cheyenne Dazey, a young lady affiliated with the hospital whose name temporarily escapes me (I'll list her name when I remember it) and me.


The second floor admittance desk features a beehive motif.

Butterflies circle the ceiling.

A large catepillar in the waiting area.

These circular features on the floor of the waiting area were very cool.

The "Healing Garden" is just outside the waiting area.

This is the admittance desk, featuring an "ant farm".

"Outside" is at the end of a long hallway leading to the elevators to treatment facilities.

Here I am with "Outside" framed and on the wall.

Mystery Project - Part Six

Here's the finished painting for this project. Again, it's taken with my point-and-shoot camera, so the quality of photography leaves a lot to be desired. My next step is to get a good record of the piece.
This hasn't cleared with the client yet, so I'm not going to reveal that information until the coast is clear.
One never knows. I'm pretty optimistic, though.

Mystery Project - Part Five

Getting there...

One more land form in the background and the sky is still to come.

This is a detail showing the stand of trees in the background. I'm going for a jolly grandfatherly look with these guys.

Mystery Project - Part Four

This update shows the foreground taking form more clearly than has been the case before. I'm putting in the grass color, which will go back just past the elephant, with a lighter version of that color continuing on the slopes behind him.
He's pink, obviously, and is spraying a rainbow into the little pond. I painted his reflection several times before I got a version I was comfortable with. The foreground cows are completed, as is the flying bee on the right. He's not reading clearly yet, since he's still against a dark background, which will be lightened considerably soon.
Below are a few details illustrating the transtion of tonal values as I paint from dark to light.

Mystery Project - Part Three

More woefully bad photos of the painting in progress, with more details:






The background is still dark, but since I paint from dark to light it won't stay that way.
This is really occupying my time, so I haven't had the chance to post (or work on) anything else. I'm hoping to wrap it up pretty soon.

Mystery Project - Part Two

Sorry about the glare on these photos, I took them with my unsophisticated digital camera.
I've taken the original sketch, posted in the first installment of this project, and enlarged it to 36 by 60 inches. Here it's in position and ready to transfer to the canvas.

And here the image is transferred to the canvas using white pastel as the transfer medium.

I'm starting the paint the different elements. I paint from dark to light, using opaque acrylics, and from the front to the back. The foreground images are painted first. The background is dark, but it won't stay that way, eventually it will be made up of sky, clouds, ground, etc.


Here are a couple of image details. Again, the background is dark for now, but that will change.

Mystery Project - Part One

It's a mystery because it's not fair to the client to reveal their identity or the nature of the project until it's done. But I can post progress reports as it continues. This is the sketch for the project, and now that it has been approved I will continue on to the painting.

Updates to come as they seem appropriate.