After a 7 1/2 hour marathon painting session yesterday evening and night, and a final touch up session early this morning, Morpheus is ready for clear coat.
Here are photos from all around.
Morpheus Moose Right Side
Morpheus Moose Left Side
Morpheus Moose Front
Morpheus Moose Back
All 40 + moose will be unveiled on Tuesday, May 19 – pictures will be posted here!
Some intensive work over the past weekend has gotten Morpheus nearly finished.
Morpheus Moose nearly complete
A few more hours of work, plus last minute touch up and adjustments will have Morpheus ready for his date with Dave to receive his protective clear coat this coming Wednesday.
After a few more intense sessions, Morpheus is starting to look a bit more alive. The work is currently concentrated on getting the base patchwork design and color scheme on the moose. At this stage, the focus is getting a cohesive look to the transformation. There is still some experimenting and adjustments of the exact colors, so the going is somewhat slow at this point.
Morpheus Moose Right Rear View - March 31, 2009
Morpheuse Moose, Left Front View 3/31/2009
I’ve scheduled more work hours for late Friday and over the weekend, and should have another post by early next week.
Was finally able to begin adding some color to Morpheus today. Didn’t have time to get very far but did lay out the design in pencil and had time to put on some color just to evaluate the transition idea. In the photo, Morpheus looks very NASCAR-ish what with the checkered flag looking area around his middle. Don’t worry, that’ll change as work progresses.
Busy weekend for me with “One Hundred for $100” this Friday & Saturday but should be able to get back in for more work by Sunday. Check early next week to see more progress.
My main medium is watercolor and, for the most part, I paint fairly traditional subjects using traditional watercolor methods and techniques. For projects like this, I like to take the opportunity to paint in ways that are very different from my watercolor work.
This years version, Morpheus Moose, is designed to do three things: disguise the shape, interior contours, and textures of the moose itself; create an eye catching combination of color and shape that will stand out while the moose is displayed on the street in Bennington this summer and fall; and to create a theme and design that will be interesting to anyone who decides to take a close look.
The design concept is shown below. This view highlights the design and color scheme for Morpheus Moose. The colors will “morph” from earth tones, representing the rolling hills of SW Vermont, to reds, blues, violets and golden thread of a patchwork country quilt. The rolling hills and fields will become the patches of the quilt, with the fence and tree lines and farm buildings creating the patterns on the patches. The transition from one to the other will occur with a surprise element in between. The surprise will become evident as Morpheus receives his new coat over the next few week.
The designs, created in colored pencil and regular pencil are shown below.
Design for Morpheus Moose - Tony Conner's creation for Moosefest 2009
Value Design Sketch for Morpheus Moose
The Town of Bennington and the Bennington Chamber of Commerce have revived Moosefest for 2009. Moosefest 2005 turned into a wildly popular and successful event that rallied the citizens, drew thousands of visitors and raised literally hundreds of thousands of dollars to support local arts programs and institutions.
Moosefest 2009 will also feature a herd of moose, each specially painted, sculpted, tiled, decoupaged or otherwise decorated by a local artist. Once again, the proceeds of the sales will benefit local arts organizations.
The moose have begun arriving in town to get their unique look provided by the local talent. My moose arrived this past weekend. They are large things – my male moose, while not life size is about 6′ tall at the head, 7′ long and about 5′ across at the antlers.
Morpheus Moose uncovered front left
Morpheus Moose uncovered front right
“Morpheus” – that’s his name, more on that in later posts -is way too big to fit in my studio. The antlers wouldn’t fit through the door, even if he wouldn’t take up most of the floor space available. Because of that, I needed a host site to paint my moose. Fortunately for me Bob and Nan Lowary, owners of the Taraden Bed & Breakfast in North Bennington, VT came to the rescue. They are hosting four artists and their moose in a barn converted specifically to be studio space for artist Ken Noland. Mr. Noland is considered to be one of the best-known contemporary American Color field painters according to Wikipedia. When he settled in North Bennington, he converted the working farm into a home, studio space and exhibit areas. I, as well as the other three local artists will be working on our creations in the space that used to be the working studio for Mr. Noland. Thanks again to Bob and Nan. Thanks also go to Telly Halkias owner of Now & Then books in Bennington who sponsored the moose and chose me to paint it.
Morpheus will go from stark white to brightly colored over the course of the next six weeks. In May, Morpheus along with the rest of the herd will hit the streets of Bennington for the summer for visitors and residents alike to view and enjoy. In October, they all will be auctioned with all proceeds going to support the arts in Bennington.
I’ll be updating this site with new information and photos so that you’ll be able to view the progress as it happens.
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