I think the murals I have planned for the new house will restart my creative painting engines. This will have four layers: a base color layer that will open up on the ceiling to the blue that is already on the walls (adding clouds to soften the blue a bit), then a sponged on mist layer of a slightly lighter tone, then a darker than base color silhouette layer which will add depth and realism without me having to lose my mind painting every little thing, then a final full color layer that will be spaced out into "spots" of realism.
The thing about the Savannah mural I did was that was also 360 degrees was that I had to paint every blade of tall grass and it also was kind of claustrophobic because I didn't paint in atmospheric effects to lead the eye beyond the elements right up close. The effect was you were in a sea of grass, which was fine, but for a jungle if I tried that I would go bonkers fast. But, flipping through my many, many... MANY wildlife books, I saw that nature created a nifty shortcut: mist that creates shapes and shadows. I predict this will be much easier both to work on and to live with. I won't have to leave whole sections totally blank while I work on other parts of it. It will be like the jungle is emerging piece by piece.
The fun part, too, is auditioning animal/plant sources. I already decided it will be a South/Central American jungle, since I did Africa with my Savannah mural before. Almost chose Australia, but I really want toucans! I have my jaguar source, and a list of favorite plants from my terrarium building. Definitely a plus of home ownership: a JUNGLE Room! :)
