A couple of pictures...

[Suzanne Robertson]

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When we left Utah we left Salem Pond behind. It is a beautiful spot with ducks and a bridge and an island in the center. We use to picnic there as a family. After our move to California my mother missed it a lot. She talked Don (and it took a fair amount of talking) into painting a mural of that pond on the walls of our dining room. It wrapped around three walls. This is a picture of our mother and me looking at that mural.

Notice my dress. The skirt is a border print of Lady and the Tramp... we couldn't have too much Disney at our house.

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This picture is of Don at the time he worked at the Disney Studio.

Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Suzanne

[OwenWelsh]

Suzanne thank's so much for sharing these family photos with us. It was funny to hear it took your mother a lot convincing to have Don do the mural. It was similar experience for me when my parents wanted me to paint our roof chimney blue with white fluffy clouds... :)

[Rodney]

I suspect you may have some wonderful memories from that time and place.

We can't tell a lot about the painting just from this one photo but it is immediately clear Don put some serious time and effort into it. It may have taken some time to convince him but apparently once he was in he gave it his best.

Given the importance of the dining room as a major meeting place for families of that age we can only imagine some of the good food and warm conversations that went on around the table as you sat down to an evening meal. With the mural providing the environment that surely made it even more special.

It's clear your mother was a major factor in nurturing your interests and creativity along the way. For Don, I can easily imagine how the finished mural would have helped to make the prospect of creating art that transports people to other times and places seem all the more real.

Thanks for transporting us there.

(I too have a family mural painting experience. It was a lot of work but a wonderful experience. Don simply must reveal his mural painting technique!!!) :)

[Suzanne Robertson]

Owen - That is too funny. Did you paint it?


Rodney - If my memory serves me Don hated every minute of the job. I guess artists have to wait for inspiration and this was creativity "on demand."
However we did have great family dinners. We had a huge table that seated the eight of us and always a friend or two. My mom was a good cook, especially on Sundays.

[OwenWelsh]

Owen - That is too funny. Did you paint it?

Suzanne of course I painted it, after much complaining and griping of course! :) When I look at it now, its merely a fond memory.

[arif]

hmm....Thanks again Suzanne for the pics.....:laughing:

what i noticed that Don has the same hair style since childhood...did he ever grow his hair long or he kept always as it is...?:rolleyes:

Regards,
Arif

[Suzanne Robertson]

His hair has always been the same. A little bit grey now.

[Rodney]

Suzanne,
With apologies to you and your family for daring to trifle with such wonderful memories I thought I would try to 'restore' the part of the mural on display in your photo.

It was a fun experiment and it made me appreciate Don's artistry (especially at such a young age) all the more. Some distortion is readily apparent in this restoration. I'm sure the trees were fully upright and the colors more brilliant in the 'real world'. Unless of course, Don painted in black and white or grayscale... wasn't everything black and white in those days of yore?

Don't worry, I have no plans to replicate your 'Lady and the Tramp' skirt in 3D. Although, now that I think about it... kidding! (It would be fun to do though)

http://blog.5pointpatch.com/wp-content/uploads/blog.5pointpatch.com/2011/03/ReimaginedDonBluthMural_sm1.jpg

[arif]

ahhhhhhhh.Rodney...excellent!!!!!!...if Suzanne don't mind...(Don also),,how did you do it?

[zanekohler]

Ha very cool seeing it in color.



Suzanne, Do you remember how long it took him to paint it?


I might actually be doing a wall in our house very soon. :)

[Suzanne Robertson]

Wow, that is fun. If you want to share how you did that it is certainly OK with me.

Yes, the mural was originally in color and it took a while to finish. I will ask Don more about it and let you know. The strange part for me is, now that I have moved back to Utah, Salem Pond is only about four miles from my house. It is one of my favorite places. In the fall I like to sit and watch the mallards glide effortlessly above the water and then land almost without a ripple. It's magical.

[Rodney]

Thanks Suzanne.

Arif,
The basic premise follows the principle of grids and gridlines that I've been talking about in my (oft neglected) image Gallery here in the forum. Warp the image back into proper perspective and start layering in the color. Perhaps I can do more of a step by step later but I should do that in my Gallery rather than take us too far off topic.

While I didn't use it here, it should be noted there are computer tools that can be used to combine multiple photos into one new image. That can do a pretty amazing job of warping all of the various perspectives from a set of diverse photos into place for you. Google 'Autostitch' and you'll find that program.

I recall having a terrible time photographing the mural I painted because it was so big. I used that software to smash a whole lot of photos together to increase the detail in each of the individual areas.

I remain just as interested in approaches to art as in the end product... often more so. Of course when dealing with folks as talented as Don, those whose mastery is visualized internally that can make it harder (for us) to explore. Thankfully, Don is a very good and patient teacher also.


Salem Pond is only about four miles from my house. It is one of my favorite places. In the fall I like to sit and watch the mallards glide effortlessly above the water and then land almost without a ripple. It's magical.

I can imagine how that must feel to return there. While I never grew up on a farm (it was more of an orchard) I have very good memories of long summers (and cold winters) adventuring through the woods. Healing occurs whenever I return.

[Suzanne Robertson]

I won't be talking to Don until Wednesday but I will see if he remembers. Thanks