Tuesday Greetings,
I have finished with the mural project. (Well my part is over anyway!) Now the owner (my son Shaun) needs to wipe off the chalk lines and apply the clear coat. The project was on hold awaiting the family name sticker. I don’t do letters. Nor did I want to purchase stencils that would get used rarely for $50+. It didn’t make sense.
The surname Dowdy was first found in County May located on the West coast of the Republic of Ireland in the province of Connacht. Dowdy is an Irish patronymic surname from the Irish Gaelic O Dubhda, meaning son of Dubhda; dubh means black, and da is likely a personal name, given the Irish practice of surnames coming from a description of the patriarch, but the meaning is uncertain.
One of these days we need to seriously research the Dowdy line.
My mural method is to hand draw onto the board/wall. My process is pretty straightforward. I use chalk to sketch out a rough outline, get my proportions correct, and use a yard stick for things I can’t eyeball. I then lay in the background, and come back in with details, sketching if I need to, but otherwise working traditionally back to front.
As I’ve shared in the past, I began painting murals professionally before I’d had any art training/education. I’ve always known that art was my “thing”. I think we all kind of know or figure out pretty quickly what our thing is. I see a lot of people who can technically execute art techniques on a practical level. But there’s a little something else that clicks in the brain for an artist. Something I do not really know the words to describe what I am trying to say, other than it is as inherent as breathing.
The very essence of instinct is that it’s followed independently of reason.
(Charles Darwin)
Peace,
