Creat A Forest
Marcy Yerkes- Laconia, New Hampshire
Teacher and arts Marcy Yerkes took a big challenge at a lakeside home- she brought a forest inside. Marcy re-created the pines, birches, and hemlocks in the family’s yard in a 30-by 18-foot mural on the living room wall.
The homeowners have been building the home for the last two years using a special architectural method they like to refer to as “winging it.” However, when they finished the living room, which has a 30-foot ceiling, and cobblestone fireplace, something was missing…the room was no cozy. Therefore, they went searching for an artist who could bring the forest into their living room. They found Marcy, a part-time elementary art teacher at Canterbury Elementary.
Here is the process Marcy followed to produce this large scale mural:
First, I took photographs of the woods surrounding the house. Having been an illustrator pays off when doing renderings for the client. I did two pencil sketches and one rendering in pastel. The clients wanted a deep-woods background instead of the sky.
I used Benjamin Moore eggshell latex for the background (forest foliage 2040-10, clover green 2034-10, yellow green 2033-10, and spring moss 2027-10). Acrylics in pint and gallon containers by Nasco, Bulk- Kryile (white, cadmium yellow, fluorescent yellow, fluorescent green, black, pthalo-green, and pthalo-blue). I used a roller in one hand and an angle brush in the other. Small roller pans work great as palettes and they hold a lot of paint.
I spent a fair amount time at the beginning of each day planning which area to paint or what detail to add and what technique to use. I planned my goals for the day and always communicated my plan of attack with the client.
First, I sketched the chosen rendering onto the wall with a light brown chalk pastel. (You can easily wipe off mistakes with a damp towel.) I casually outlined and drew the trees and large leaf areas. I started at the top and worked my way to the bottom. Because of the height, the top was the most difficult part- reaching this area sometimes meant stacking two scaffolds and balancing on a bucket (not recommended for safety reasons).
The top was painted dark green with an overlay of leafy branches in medium greens and clover green mixed with the acrylic white and cadmium yellow. I used a series of different widths of angle brushes to create various foliage treatments. I usually painted dark to light.
The middle area, where the light is shining through, was so much fun. I teach my students monoprints so I applied that technique here.
In a large pan, I freely squeezed three paints in different directions- fluorescent yellow, cad yellow, and spring moss. I created a ragged roller and covered this medium area in a vertical direction (the tree trunks still unpainted). Smaller trees were placed in front of the larger trees, so the tree trunks were next. I used sponge rollers and applied a monoprint technique using acrylic brown, off-white or magnolia white, black, and glaze. Detail was added later, causally outlining with a small brush black cracks.
For more depth, small spruce trees were placed in the foreground. I added more white to the medium greens for more variety among all this greenery. Adding small wildflowers also gave this mural more kick! I also used small, angled artist brushes to paint the hanging foreground leaves.
This mural took nine days to complete because last minute requests were added. I loved working with creative, appreciative, and respectful clients who knew what they wanted!
About the author
Marcy Yerkes of Laconia, NH owns Southern Accent Designs. She paints the interiors of homes and businesses, specializing in murals. She attended Rebecca Parsons’ Do What You Love Workshops. Eventually she would like to paint full time |
