Are Fine Art Mural Markets Changing?
Art Trends are growing! but not in communities like, Port Royal, Mediterra, Quail West, Pelican Bay, located in Naples Fl. Actually the market is expanding from these and other elite areas.
Fine Art, Murals, Faux Finishing, and other types of hand painted ornamental work has been on the move along with the downsizing and is actually changing through an unintended natural transitional migration.
Since the downturn in the housing market there has been much change with many who have down sized into smaller and more modest homes. But that doesn’t mean the desire to own fine art, hand painted murals, decorative art has been eliminated from their quality of life.
Of course it has slowed down considerably but it doesn’t mean the market is no longer there. In recent months I have noticed in fact that the market is actually expanding into neighboring communities that otherwise knew very little of the faux finishing and decorative arts existence. In fact it is actually helping the fine art muralists and faux finishing market because although the demand has slowed, the ones who have downsized still demand the hand painted quality of artisans just on a smaller scale. Within these more modest communities there is much to say about how the neighborly atmosphere and sense of small town community is openly shared with one another and how more than ever these days “word of mouth” type of networking goes on within the active golf communities. With a rising interest according to reports from local realtors that I associate with, it looks as if the planting of seeds for the future of the decorative arts, fine art and muralists alike are well on its way for future growth.
I have been exposed to this kind of activity in recent months and once again I was contacted by a client who had actually found me through the Art-Faux Blog while searching for an artist for a mural commission at their home in Bonita Springs Fl. The beauty of it is the clients home happened to be located in one such community that has this kind of atmosphere and I was able to make a few contacts with a couple of them who pronounced the term “faux finishing” as “fox” finishing. If it were not for the couple who contacted me in the first place who very well understand and support the arts, the other contacts probably would have never happened and given me the opportunity to educate them briefly on the decorative arts by viewing the process. Most are amazed to find out the unlimited solutions to interior design and what can be achieved with many mediums or just paint alone.
Now this was to be a rather unique kind of fine art mural in that it was to be based on a nocturnal setting in the 17th-18th century. So there was quite a bit of research that was done for this project. I’ll try to be brief with this post but with the details and a few unexpected surprises it may get some what lengthy.
Based on our discussion with the clients I put together a prelimanary sketch to get some ideas and as we moved along with some changes I came up with a basic design using a one point perspective because of the size, room layout, and view point of this 8ft x 8ft mural that was going to be installed in the dining room floor to ceiling niche. Generally, in fine art architectural elements are rendered at no less than a two point perspective. Unfortunately with the small area of where the fine art mural was to be installed a two point was not going to work. With a view from a 45 to 60 degree angle at 10 ft of either side of the view point the compositional flow would have been interrupted by distortion. I had to force a 14ft view point from the mural which was at the turning around point of closing at the inside swing of the entry door.
A little too much info? lol ….I thought so too
The figures in the drawing will be moved more than once as this is just a drawing of course. The second positioning will take place on the canvas to put them in correct perspective in relationship to the viewing plane. Normally I would have drawn this out showing the plan and plane of view but budget and time was more critical.
After pulling in the changes from the drawing I started laying in the ground work to keep things rolling. We already knew the color was going to basically be in low key cool tones so I could actually block in the night sky, background and start bringing in the architecture because we already knew where I was going with this. Moving the figures to the right and changing their position really not an issue until I realized I had to change the position of the moon due to the figures would be blocking the reflecting light source from the moon.
Well it seems everything is moving along nicely and I just adore clients who let me get lost in my mural work and just paint. There is a lot of inspiration that comes to me as I work. However you still must know your limitations and your weaknesses when it comes to faux finishing and fine art murals.
Yes the progress of this little jewel is looking better now that I have more of the midground blocked in. I can see my values much better in the sky, clouds and mountains and can begin adjusting these as I work. The buildings are starting to take on some dimension although they are looking a little on the warm side. Most artists would probably paint the buildings much cooler because of it being a night time mural scene but there’s a method to my madness which I may explain later but I am already at 1070 words and I said I would try to stay brief.
but one of my questions are is How can anyone be brief when trying to explain a fine art mural, a faux finishing technique, or even teaching for that matter?
I don’t want to drag this out but I wanted everyone to get the full gist of what went into to this nighttime fine art mural. When you see the end results I think your really going to be shocked and I just have a feeling at least some of you are going to have questions in fact I know you will so keep reading. Trust me you will find out what makes this night time fine art mural so much different soon enough and it has nothing to do with glow or blacklight paint….
So we now have brought in the sky color into the water which needs to be slightly darker in value and a tad warmer as it gets closer. For the sky I started out with a Cobalt Blue, Paynes Gray, Titan.White and using the same for the water but added a touch of Ultramarine to warm the blue as it comes forward but be very careful. The next thing was to bring some values into the cobblestone.
When painting a night time mural or fine art piece. I was given a tip by an online artist friend Warren Peterson to think more on “color value” and not so much on color. Warren is an excellent Canadian landscape artist who are one of many I socialize with online and does beautiful work. I’ll leave a link to his site at the end of my novel that I seem to writing here.
At this point I am ready to install and finish up the finer details on site. I will do this at times for a number of different reasons and sometimes I will just complete it in the studio if I need to ship it some where out side of my local area. However in this case I will be finishing it at the residence once I install it. Obviously I’ll need help with this because of the size and how it needs to be hung. Although I can paint fine art murals on or off site most times I prefer to paint on canvas. Personally I believes it gives more value to the work because it’s removable and transportable if the substrate (wall area) is properly prepared and of course I will do that also or get it done by a someone who I trust to do it right the first time. Besides that’s part of what makes this a fine art mural than just a mural. I know your next question is “What’s the difference between the two” and I would love to explain but I believe that’s another subject that would deserve another post of it’s own.
20 thoughts on “Are Fine Art Mural Markets Changing?”
Enjoying your blog! I am a muralist as well, sharing your travails! Keep up the good work!
Chtisti, thanks for stopping by, it’s great to get the local support of other artists from the area. I hope to see more of this in the coming months. I am actually working on another website to help local artists get a better web presence..
I am learning so much from you, Arthur! Keep up the good work!
Donna your work as a fine artist is amazing to say the least, and to get a compliment such as this from you means a lot thank you!
Love the Night Time Fountain Mural. Thanks for sharing. Great information.
Hi Pardee, thanks so much for stopping buy. I really appreciate what you do and the hard work the people at Art Trends Fine Art Magazine does to help support the arts. Everyone should take the time and take a look at what this young lady has accomplished for the artists of Edmonton Alberta and the Northwest part of the U.S.
Art Trends Fine Arts Magazine
It’s great to see your process, Arthur. I liked the couple before but think your final piece is wonderful! The fountain looks like you can reach out and touch it. I haven’t attempted to paint water flowing like this yet but I definitely want to try. It’s all so beautiful. I am also a big believer that everything happens for a reason.
Hi Jennifer, Thanks for connecting, I love meeting other artists. Theres really quite a story that goes with this and will be in my next post. I went to your blog and I think your work is fabulous! It appears your not afraid to spread your creative wings either because I can see the impasto and impressionistic side with the plein aire and others looks like you also work in water color and acrylics, (I love heavy bodied). Water can be challenging at times but in the fountain I had to keep it on the cool transparent side. (Titanium and a touch of Cobalt blue) The incandescent lighting gives the warmth it needed and still retained the nocturnal appearance. Thanks for contributing I love discussing sharing techniques, it’s how we grow!
Thanks for a beautiful post demonstrating the evolution of this beautiful work. Although not an artist of your genre, I certainaly appreciate the in-depth thought and creativity. Keep up the beautiful work and the great blog.
Hi Christine, You have my attention for sure as a culinary artist in my eyes! I got to try the “crusted brussel sprouts”. I am a nut when it comes to my veggies and I could easily become a vegetarian. We both share a passion of teaching others and am glad you stopped in. I’ll be popping in on your blog as oon as i get caught up hear to get that recipe. The beauty of it is, I get them all to myself! because no one else in my family likes them. Jackpot! 🙂
Wow, Art, Beautiful work. The process is amazing. You should try doing a stop-motion video for one that you work on. I think it would be stunning.
Thanks Alan, I do have a couple time lapsed videos of my smaller canvas pieces and it just happens that I learned about recording, editing and producing my own instructional DVD’s. Although they are a bit amateur they still get the point across. I will remake them once I get better equipment. Anyway your site is unbelievably informative, I will be using it often thanks for coming by.
I certainly learned how you structure a mural using a set of steps, which can cause you the artist to change pace as you go along.
Hi Stan, yes there are certain steps and guide lines that an artist follows, but then there are a number times where you just follow your instinct which most of us and break out that “artistic license” and do what you know or feel is correct. 😉
Thank you Art for your valuable insight. You are a rare friend. Keep up the brilliant work.
Thanks John, really glad you made it, I really love the uniqueness of your art and would recommend others to click on John Paul Blanchette
Arthur, I really would like to compliment you on such a wonderful informative blog site. I can think of several people that I’m going to pass your address onto this morning. Additionally, myself being involved in painting I admire an artist such as yourself who openly shares so much excellent information on design, materials and technique(s). When you have a free moment (HA!) please take a peek at under painting and Let me know what you think?
With Gratitude,
James Willney
Thank you James, It’s people like yourself that encourages me to continue with these kind of posts. Although I’m not the perfect source of information it’s the idea to inspire others to continually search for what they need and by providing the links from other readers who could possibly have even more knowledge than myself we actually start to create a trusted circle of information that our readers can follow on a continuum. I will surely take a look at your site…..
Hi Art,I really enjoyed following your steps painting the moonscape. How did you and your client arrive at the decision to paint this subject? Your ending was a surprise. I expected to see the couple. Why did you omit them? As a fellow (but not comparable) artist, I’m trying to get all the information from you that I can.lol In May,I painted a mural at Imperial Nursing, located at the entrance of Imperial Golf Estates. It would be an honor if you could find the time to see it and give me your honest opinion. (I’m tough, I can take criticism!) Thanks again for sharing your talents with so many people.
Hi Norma, The steps I used for the nightsky I will explain a little deeper in detail in my next blogpost. The sky should actually have a touch of a warmer color in it to kill the “chalky” appearance and normally I would do this, but because of the “incandescent” lighting bouncing from the chandelier(yellow) I didn’t want the light interfering and intensifying the warmth too much and take away the effect that I was trying to achieve. You see, the main challenge I was up against was the fact that I was painting a Low Key subject of dark cool tones in a dark room. I had to paint this in a way so as not to lose the “time of the season” that takes place also which is late fall/early winter and capture the briskness of that time of year (notice the intensity of the cool whites on the roof tops) My main problem was I wished to paint the sky and back ground with as little warmth as possible but yet still attain the atmospheric perspective.
I have a project at Coconut Pt. next week and I know right where Imperial is and will stop by I love admiring other artists work but I never judge or compare one artist to another because it’s about individualism and style. I noticed you didn’t list a website?