Both Paintings Finished in 108 Days

Finally finished with my epic double commission of "The Final Judgment" and "The Damned."  Both paintings were finished in just 108 days total.  Both pieces are oil on canvas and total an enormous 8ft x 27ft.   I can't reveal where the will be going at this point, as per the terms of the contract with my client but I will announce it here when I have permission.  Thank you so much for your support during this whole crazy ride.  Originally I had exactly three months to finish the project.  Fortunately I was given a little more time but I still executed and completed the project just over that small window of time.  

Day 46 The End is in Sight

For days I've been saying "I'm almost there..."  Now I can actually say that knowing it is true.  I only have two more days to finish this commission and that's just about all the time I will need.  If I'm lucky, I may not even have to stay up late tomorrow night!  Things are going well but it all depends if I can keep up the pace.  I'm really to the point of complete exhaustion at this point.  The combination of late hours, early mornings, no coffee and strength training has be longing for the end.  Fortunately, the end is in sight.  You'll have to wait until Tuesday next week to see shots of the finished product.  I'll be having the talented photographer Darren Penrod photograph me and the painting this Sunday.   I can't wait for you all to see it.

Day 41 Deadline... Painting Finished? No.

Sorry it has been over a week since I posted.  At this point the painting should have been finished as today was the deadline - November 1.  Fortunately there is a little bit of leeway for me to finish it a few days late.  At this point I had to make the decision to paint much longer days to insure I'd finish the commission on time.  I've been working from about 9AM until around 2AM each day until the painting is finished.  Though I'm not as exhausted as I was during the last commission I'm certainly not as used to this long schedule as I was before.  Not to mention I gave up coffee before I began this second painting so things are a little more challenging.  Only another week to go.  Wish me luck.

Painted in a quick figure of Jesus on day 27.  

Day 26-29 Working in the Middle

I've spent the last few days working in the middle of the canvas.  It looks like I'll be finished with all the figures on the ground in the next two days or so.  As it would figure, I mentioned how well I've been feeling a few days back.  Well, the last three days I've been fighting off a cold.  It hasn't developed into anything serious but it has cut into my late nights working on this painting.  I'm hoping I'll be past it soon.  It is my goal to be working on the angels in the sky by the next time I make a new post.  Wish me luck.

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Day 24-25 Halfway Finished? Not quite.

I had hoped to be done with half of this commission by the 15th of October but I didn't quite make it. However, I've been picking up the pace the last few days and I think I can make the time up.  After weeks of work I believe I'm finally feeling in "the groove".

All of the figures I painted the last few days are in the on the right side of the mural in the "Hell" section.   I will be finishing the last few today and painting some of the demons before moving onto the middle of the painting.

I mentioned at the start of the project that I decided not to stay up ridiculous, late hours working on this one and that I would try to get at least six hours of sleep each night.  I also stopped drinking coffee and I've continued weight training.   In contrast to my last painting I feel healthy and ready to take on the rest of this painting to deliver it on time.  That isn't to say that the next two weeks will be easy but I'm ready to take it on.  Til next time..

Day 21-23 Moving Over to the Right Side

Sometimes one needs a little change of pace when working on a large project.  This was the case for me this weekend.  I decided to finish up what I could on the left side and I moved over to the right side of the painting to make some fresh progress.  I had hoped by the 14th of October I would have at least 50% of the painting finished.  At this point I'm around 30% finished so I really need to pick up the pace.  Fortunately this weekend went well.  The right side of this composition is mostly demons torturing and throwing bodies into the fires of hell.  As per the client's request the style of the painting is overly mannerist which you can see by the rendering of the body proportions and the stylized environment and flames.

That's it for now.  Lots of work to do.  Thanks for following along.  It's going to be a really busy three weeks...

Getting started on the right side on day 19.  Just roughing in the background around a falling body.

A close up of some of the bodies I painted over the weekend.  

What the painting looks like this morning.  I'll be painting somewhere in the middle today.

Days 11-20 Painting Hell Figures

I apologize for not posting for several days.  If I told you life is way too busy at the moment I'm sure it wouldn't take much convincing for you to believe me.  At the moment I should really be painting since I only have three more weeks to finish this painting so I'll be brief.  You can see exactly where I am by the two photos below which were taken about 5 days apart from each other.  I hope to post more frequently as I go forward.  Wish me luck.  It's crunch time.

(5 days ago)  Starting to rough in some of the figures being pulled into hell and begging for forgiveness

This is what the painting looks like in my studio this evening.  I'll be working my way out of this corner tonight finishing up the initial rough in of the remaining figures.