Lily and the Whale

Lily just turned 7, and she likes the sea. Lily's mom called me to paint a mural in her room, but not any kind of mural, because Lily is not interested in a Disney-style mural. You see, Lily drew a whale, and Lily's mom thought it would be interesting to include it in a "Fernand Leger" style mural.

Fernand Leger Paintings

Lily has her mind set on the colors she wants. She has picked her colors from a Benjamin Moore paint color fan deck, and is very assertive in her choices.

I am up for the challenge! I really like Lily's whale, and think it has a lot of personality.

Lily's drawing: whale on top

After doing some research on Fernand Leger, I finally come up with sketches, but it is more challenging than I expected once I am in front of my paper (funny, it always ends up being more challenging than expected...). Simple drawing, simple lines, but limited by colors and Fernand Leger himself... Lily wants the blue she chose for the whale, but Leger would not just paint the whole whale blue, for example.

Anyway... Here is my first sketch:

Not quite right... I find it a little too simple.

So I do a second sketch:

Still not quite happy... The algae makes it too busy this time...

The third try is the charm:


And Lily is loving it. She is just worried that the mural might not look exactly like the sketch, and I tell her it will.

This is a picture of Lily, very happy with her new mural...

I was very honored to paint this mural for Lily, as I wonder how many children have that kind of creative perspective on decor these days. And I love her whale's very kind and shy smile...