Union of South Africa - Mural

It all started with Andy's email, looking for an artist to paint a wall at Fife Heritage Railways. It's my responsibility, as the webmaster of St Andrews Art Club, to deal with the emails we receive. I immediately circulated Andy's plea and felt happy for the lucky artist who would paint a wall around and about trains and railways. It sounded exciting. I didn't think it would be me at the time.

Sometime later Andy wrote to me again saying nobody had contacted him. So, I volunteered.

I went and saw the site. I loved it at first sight. Andy described what he wanted, a steam engine coming out of a tunnell. I asked them which engine would be appropriate. The answer was "Union of South Africa." This was a great idea so I decided to translate it into an image word by word. Union of South Africa coming out of an imaginary tunnell. Even though I haven't seen the original in action, it was too late for that, it's a famous engine and I found a lot of visuals. I watched a lot of videos; looked at photographs and read about its history. It's a beautiful engine.

First Sketch I started with this sketch, which Andy and Jim liked a lot. It would be a challenge to transfer from the charcoal on paper to acrylic on wall but I was looking forward to it.

35X35cm charcoal on sugar paper

First day I blew the outlines of the composition up on my wall using a watered down payne's grey.

Just to have a feel, I painted my darkest darks with payne's grey the same day.

I don't like the sun very much so I was coming to the site as early as possible by the first bus. This is all thanks to Ben, who was unlocking the compount for me that early in the morning, without Ben it wouldn't be possible.

Second week: I started with the tunnell, using yellow ochre. It felt like the right colour at first but I immediately regretted it after applying. It was too powerful, it would have stollen the engine's thunder. I decided to change the colour but I completed the whole stonework so it would create a layer, just to add some texture. I also started experimenting on the ground. (Payne's grey, white and yellow ochre)

Same day worked on the steam a little. Wasn't yet sure how to create the charcoal like steam effect using acrylics.

Third week: More unsatisfactory work on the stones and ground... This was my first ladder which was to be lost very soon.

Week 4: I mixed earthy colours using beige, ecru and raw sienna for the stones. I was finally pleased with the muted elegance of these new colours. My yellow ochre underneath is still visible here and there and created a nice texture suited the nature of sandstone, which is a common material around the area. I wasn't sure about the dark pointing but left it untounched for a while and decided to work on different bits of my picture.

Also worked on the steam and the face of the beautiful engine.

Week 5: Much lighter pointing for my tunnell worked better. Second layer for the face, a bit more work on the steam...

It was comforting to think that there'd be a playground infront of it. It allowed me to keep things light and joyous. I was allowed to play, so to speak. I could be forgiven if I made a mistake. I was going to be with kids.

Week 6: Details of the face coming along nicely... I introduced black and grey for this medium layer in order to create a three dimensional feel. Payne's grey wasn't dark or cold enough for the train to be separated from the bluish darkness of the tunnell. Pete helped me a lot with the accuracy of certain details I wasn't aware of.

Week 7: I decided to darken the ground using payne's grey. It looked much better.

Week 8: More work on the steam, ground and I signed it.

Week 9 & 10: Two coats of varnish. Photo by Ben Kirkbride. "The artist at work with her second and most favourite ladder"

The End