Recently, I had the delight of being commissioned to paint a vineyard scene (complete with a white buffalo) for a client — he wanted it painted onto his otherwise-blank-and-boring kitchen island.

He let me know what he wanted, and I created a template for him to approve — he asked me to make it more whimsical, “so people will know that YOU painted it,” and to add a tree to the foreground.

I love knowing precisely what a client wants — yet, he also gave me creative license to follow my own internal vision.

I began with priming the entire area, to prepare a “blank canvas.”  Then, I added the sky,  with 3 shades of blue, intertwined, and then I added the purple mountains:

The sky begged for a bit more whimsy, so I stood back, and let it speak to me.  Turns out, the sky wanted swirls of sheer/translucent aqua, dancing above the mountains:

How fun it is to let them catch the light, so that they “jump” out, from various perspectives!

Then I got to work with the foreground, in several layers … the foothills in the mid-ground, covered with brush, and the shrubbery, in tones of green, brown and burgundy … and then the rows of grapevines.  I added trees up against the mountains, green grass in the foreground, playful clouds throughout the sky, and a fanciful tree to anchor it.  And finally, the white buffalo, showing up like a specter in the foothills.

And finally, after it had dried and cured, I sealed it all with a satin polyurethane, for durability.

The client was pleased!

Hand-Painted Mural by Dena Lynn