How I Make a Picture

My job as an artist is to create an exciting, attractive and accurate image that conveys my client's message, whether it's for educational, editorial or scientific use. Often, my work requires the creation of a distinct and precisely defined natural environment, sometimes one that no longer even exists. Other times, the requirement is for a single portrait or vignette for exhibit labels or signs.

But whether I'm painting a portrait of a single lion or creating murals showing dozens of creatures, the result should be fun for both curators and kids to look at. Using some of the large murals I created for the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, let me show you how my client's input helps to create that kind of an image.

1. Project Input and Research

The most important part of the creative process that lead to these images was the communication up front: I often spend almost as much time preparing for an image -- in research, consultation or in the field -- as I do painting. It is also important to provide a detailed input and review process for these images, especially when lots of people want to contribute ideas.

To begin the Ancient Life Series, representatives from the museum and I had several planning sessions, either by phone, email or fax. Working with their museum designers and architects, the museum had developed a very good initial outline of the scenes and animals they wanted to show, and a precise set of requirements for the physical space that was available. With thousands of square feet to cover, and with the need to accommodate lighting and building systems like air conditioning and heating, these advance plans by the museum staff really got the images off to a good start.

2. Black-and-White Layouts

After our initial meetings, I created a detailed black-and-white layout of each painting, creating a visual approach that solved the museum's needs and took advantage of the museum's beautiful halls and building design. Because my initial layouts were fairly detailed, they gave us lots of opportunities to review and discuss the contents, change things, or even to draw on the layouts if that helped explain things. The layout phase is also the first of many opportunities to review the anatomy of the animals.

The initial black-and-white sketch is a loose character sketch that identifies the key anatomical characteristics of the animals and gives a sense of their activity and posture.

Because many of the critters included in these murals are shown at or near life size, it's important to get the details right. To that end, I got valuable help from the people at the museum and university. When working on complex murals, especially massive-scale murals like these, it's important to solve all of the design, composition and content problems at this stage, when we're still working on the rough layouts. That way, the museum and scientific review groups can feel comfortable with the image and content, and I can enjoy painting knowing that the image is accurate.

3. Scaling Up to Full Size

After the initial designs were approved, I scaled the first of the layouts to the finished painting size, and these murals are big: The biggest is more than 65 feet long and two stories tall! I painted these murals one at a time, in sequence, to accommodate the museum's building plans and needs.

The full-size black-and-white layout takes the individual cast of characters, including the Placerias show above, and places them in the scene. As we follow the development of this mural, you'll see several changes and refinements we made to accommodate the museum's needs or the aesthetic needs of the image.

Each of these images was created digitally on a powerful graphic workstation, and each was painted at full size. What does that mean from the perspective of a PC user? Well, while I am working on them, the biggest of these images won't even fit on a single CD-ROM: They take more than 1.4 gigabytes of file space. To open the files, my computer needs to have more computer memory (that's the "RAM" part of your system) than many PCs have as space on their hard drives. As I say, these murals are big.

Although I work digitally on a graphic workstation and "paint" electronically, these murals do not include scanned or "imported" content. What you see is what I actually painted ( and painted, and painted. . . ).

4. Adding Rough Color

After the image was scaled up, I created a color sketch of the painting:

In the initial color sketch, you can see how the animals, light and environmental elements are added to the landscape. With each succeeding phase, the overall lighting, terrain and fauna become more and more intertwined as a complete image.

Despite all the high-tech-sounding stuff I use, this color sketch is based on a very traditional oil-painting trick that artists have used for hundreds of years. Using varying shades of only a few colors, the color sketch begins to "fill out" the design. Since the museum staff and their designers had a sense the colors they planned to use in these halls, it was also important to consider how these giant murals would look in their surroundings. The museum then reviewed the color sketches, and some changes and additions were made.

5. Spreading the Paint

With the approval of the color roughs, I was able to sit down and start painting in earnest—and these murals took a lot of time to paint.

Since they are created digitally at full size, it was somewhat easier (and safer) than using the traditional methods of scaffolding and paint on walls. But, however you do a giant mural, at some point you're faced with the need to sit down and turn a rough design into a finished image.

Placerias painting in progress.

All five images for the Oklahoma halls represent something over 1500 hours of painting.

Here's another "work in progress" view. You'll notice that there has to be a cooperation between the artist and the museum designers: In the initial layout, I wanted the crocodile-like phytosaur to be at the extreme right of the water's edge. To accommodate the needs of the hall's design and the mural's eventual presentation, though, I moved him more toward the center of the water.

Adding colors over the original color sketch allows me to build up the final image in glazes. This style of work is a preference I have, and it is another hold-over from my oil painting. I think it gives my paintings a sense of atmosphere, so clouds and light can become living parts of the scene.

6. Completing the Image

While I was painting, I would send small portions of the murals to the museum for their review, and to their designers and production house to get their ideas and input.

Once the mural was complete, I sent the final file to the museum for their production. The "back end" of the creative process, during which these enormous digital paintings get turned into the giant color murals shown on display, is really equal parts technology and art. My paintings were transferred onto hundreds of huge vinyl panels, which are applied to the museum walls like big sheets of wallpaper.

Here is the first of the murals being installed in Oklahoma. This photo shows just three of the mural panels in place: This image has more than 60 such panels in all, and is more than 60 feet long.

It was great to work with the museum's partners on a project we could all participate in and enjoy.

7. How Did I Do?

Here's the final product:

When displayed at full size, this mural is about 45 feet long, so the animals you see are at or near their life size when the mural is on display.

I hope these murals are interesting and enjoyable to view. I also hope that as you look at the Ancient Life Series you'll share my admiration for the scientists whose work brings knowledge of these extinct animals to us, and my support for the continuing conservation of the environments and creatures with which our world is now blessed.

Karen Carr
Karen Carr Studios