Kroger Mural (Garden Peak)
09 December 2024
Acrylic on hardboard
8 x 24 ft (2.4 x 7.3 m)
Opening ceremony , 22 Jan 2025.
Kroger uses
local artists to provide work for new stores. They work through galleries to find those interested. The gallery in my neighborhood was
Cottonwood Center for the Arts (CCARTS). Artists submit a sample of previous works and three finalists are chosen. The finalists submit sketches for the specific piece/them and then one is chosen. Kroger does have room to make tweaks/suggestions. They pay a pre-determined amount which doesn't cover any expenses. It's a good challenge to control expenses. For a new store in Colorado Springs (which happens to be close to my home), I was fortunate to be selected. It was about the end of August when I was selected and the deadline was mid December.
The project took about three months to the day. I didn't take pictures of all the sketches but the first two frames of the gif show how they all looked. Because the far right panel had the Academy and the jets, I started with that panel. In other words, those three things (to me) needed to be relatively accurate and that in turn, is technically harder. With that panel finished, the rest were much more fluid. Starting from the right also let me get the contrails finished and aligned. The original sketch of
Garden Peak had the contrails crossing three panels. Because the panels are separate, there is always a risk of a non-perfect alignment. With shorter contrails, I reduced the alignment issue from two seams to one.
How I transferred the image / how I did it. After some comments from Kroger, I made this final sketch of
Garden Peak. I made it at the correct proportions on a panel of generic wall art. The painted area of the sketch is 8x24 inches - which was 1:1 for the final or 8x24 feet. Funny aside, the three original sketches (
Kroger Project) were made with an incorrect proportion. They would have been eight panels of 4x8. Kroger reminded me of that saying they look too "panoramic". As it turns out 6x4 is 24, not 8x4. That comment saved me two panels that would have been scrapped. Since the sketch was at the right proportions (finally), I made a cutout on stock paper (the white rectangle) which was 4x8 inches. That hold represented one panel. I placed a panel against the wall, slide the 'viewfinder' over the appropriate place and sketched it with a
carpenter pencil. I went over some of the pencil lines with black paint which was fun since it made a great contrast against the sky and details didn't yet matter.
This was the picture I assembled from three shots of two panels together. It was the first time I saw them together. I was working in my garage and it sufficed, but I could only see two panels at once. In fact, that was a stipulation in my setup. As long as I could see two together, I had faith they'd match okay when together. I would just shuffle the panels as I moved across the scene.
This is the same picture as the top of the page, but with more of the wall. It has good placement - it gets its own wall, is right by the entrance, and can be seen through windows from the parking lot. This was the first time I saw all the panels together in real life. I thought it worked out swell.
Above left is the back of one panel. The size of mural lent itself perfectly to 4x8 panels. I used
hardboard tempered panels (by EUCABOARD) of 3/16 inch thickness. They make a 1/8 inch thickness which is almost half the price, but I wanted the stability of the thicker panels. In retrospect, I think the 1/8 inch think panels would have worked since they were fastened to the frame. The frame is select kiln-dried square edge common softwood whitewood (also from Home Depot). I used this wood because it was very uniform and made great sides. The cross beams are 2x2s and one 2x4. The 2x4 was used to make a
French cleat. Screwing the cleat to the side of the frame avoided having to bolt/connect the cleat through the front of the panel. Above center shows the panels in a rental U-Haul box truck, and above right is the bare wall prior to hanging. It was a great project and a learned many things.
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