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Guardians of the Flame
This piece depicts three main figures. The composition of the mural is as follows: to the left, there is a phoenix. Behind it is a dragon that winds to the right and wraps around a woman. The form and placement of the dragon around the woman create a sense of protection. The contrast of the colors, the cool-toned blues and greens against the warm-toned reds, oranges, and yellows, creates a dynamic effect. The starkness of the yellow against everything else makes the eye immediately draw to the woman, making her seem the “center” or the most significant part of the piece. The lines at the bottom, curvy and cloud-like, create a sense of movement in the piece. The lines on the bird (the details of the feathers) and the scales on the dragon also echo this sense of movement, making the creatures seem more alive and dynamic. The use of pictorial space creates a slight illusion of 3-dimensional form, as the bird seems to be placed closer (in front of) the dragon, with the woman farther back. This placement of the characters places the phoenix and the dragon the closest to the front, again almost acting as protection, as they put their bodies first and shield the woman more behind them. The scale of the painting is quite large, taking up a whole side of a building. This large scale creates quite a daunting and breathtaking effect. As the viewer looks at it from below, it's like the figures are towering over them, emitting a sense of power and presence. -
Crown Our Prince
Hiero Veiga's portrait captures three different “looks” of Prince. He uses vibrant colors, natural forms of floral patterns, and intricate details to emphasize the uniqueness of the artist’s identity and persona. Scale immediately impacts where viewers choose to stand as they view this piece; because of its size, we will take a step back, in hopes to “take in” all the mural’s qualities. All three of the depictions of Prince are far larger than life size, with the image of Prince standing with a guitar taking up more than half of the entire piece. The image of Prince that appears closet to the viewers because it is brought to the foreground of the mural (also known as overlapping), gives a sense of personal connection to the musician, and allows us to make eye contact and absorb every detail of his purple top, jewelry, strands of hair, etc. Veiga is once again paying attention to form in the context of detailing, as the ends of each strand of hair and the feathers of his pink scarf are very delicate. Veiga also chose to make the image of Prince that is most iconic or identifiable as the primary subject, so cars driving from multiple blocks away, or those walking on high floors of a building, are still able to easily understand who the mural is dedicated to—those that are standing below it, of course, get the full experience. Veiga also made the stylistic choice of having the largest depiction of Prince looking straight on to the audience with a fierce gaze, amplifying the emotional power; however, the smaller Prince images have their heads slightly turned sideways or showing his side profile, which creates a more sensitive or realistic version of his day to day persona. Though he is posing in the far-right image, we can see his facial hair is fuller, and his hair is styled more freely, which exudes a feeling of rawness or humanization to the mural. -
In Bloom Together
This beautiful mural depicts an array of foliage including some basic looking leaves and some vibrant and detailed flowers. This mural was done on the side of a large wall and was made using paint; no special spray paint or wheat paste was used here. This mural to me combines the urban aspect with the natural organic side of the city. The abstract flat blocks of color behind the intertwining vines and flowers are a stark contrast to the very urban layout of the building and the parking lot.
Given that this mural was done on the side of MidCity Kitchen where there are often farmers markets and community organizations, the flowers are a nice addition to the overall feeling of nature and connectivity to community. I also really enjoy the colors used in this piece. The yellows, deep greens, teal, bright red and orange all give off a very positive feeling almost like the feeling of unity and beauty and I can’t help but feel very joyous looking at it.
The movement of this mural is mostly vertical, with the stems of the leaves and plants going from the bottom of the building all the way to the top for the most part. I think the little variations and different directions play into the natural side of things saying that not everything is perfectly linear in nature. I notice there are large blocks and organic shapes of color on the very background to give it more depth, so it isn’t just on a one colored background.
I was lucky enough to see this mural start, and, in that process, I noticed the artist had painted the whole wall white first, probably because the original color is a deep red brick and then made colored outlines of all the flowers first. This confused me because I would have expected the background colors to be done first, so it was interesting to see that process. This mural provides the space with a much more vibrant and welcoming vibe and improves the overall aesthetic of the area.
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Biomorphic Spheres and Flowing Patterns
This mural covers part of a side of a three-story building and spans the full height of the building. It is vertically oriented, consisting of overlapping circular forms. Spherical shapes dominate the center and bottom of the mural, while curved lines move with curves and circles across the background. Several spirals also take up some of the foreground and background. The mural is on a flat surface, yet many elements create an illusion of depth. Overlapping forms and shadowing make the spheres in the center appear to float in front of or behind one another. The background goes to a vanishing point using a fading of colors and smaller lines. The mural contains many geometric and organic forms with spheres, ovals, wave-like curves, and cellular forms. It is primarily made up of curvilinear lines that swirl, interlace, and outline forms, portraying motion and form. Contour lines are used to identify where shapes overlap, while other lines create texture and rhythm. The color palette of this mural primarily consists of cooler colors like blues, purples, and greens. The mural is on somewhat of a color gradient where the colors get warmer closer to the top with yellows, oranges, and pinks. There is an illusion of light coming from the upper right of the mural by using lighter and warmer colors. There is also some shading on many of the spheres and shapes that give them a glow and suggest there is light coming from somewhere. The tones change from deep blues, greens, and purples to pale yellows, greens, and blues, contributing to the volumes and depths of the shapes. The mural gives the illusion of textures such as bumpy holes or rippling liquids. This mural contains elements of patterns as first seen through the rippling lines in the background of the mural that continue until they disappear. Many of the spheres contain patterns within them, like repetitive holes or smaller ovals. -
Liberation Nation
The composition is clearly separated in two parts, contained on the two walls of the building. There are four main objects depicted, two plants and two animals. The colors on the Palestinian flag carried by the gazelle are a direct match with those of the leaves, petals, and center of the flower on the right. The form of the gazelle is smooth and elegant, with its head held high. The ibex appears more rough and rugged. The scale of the flower is much larger than it realistically would be, drawing attention to it and establishing it as being equally important as the other objects. A black line is drawn around the figures of the gazelle, ibex, and flower petals to clearly define their shape. The sense of pictorial space is divided into layers, created by the way the objects sit on top of each other. The two animals and plants lie in the foreground, just in front of the background of the brown ground. Then, far in the distance the sun shines over the horizon. The flag begins at the foreground and trails all the way into the background, before changing its colors and running up and away. Light is used only to show the shadows on the animals and shading on the flower. There is not a global illumination direction casting shadows on the ground. The variance in tone in the mural is used to show complex shading, especially on the stem of the flower. It is also used to shade the legs of the animals which are farther into the background. The flag's retreat into the background is shown by a pattern, where the same three stripes are repeated at a shifted vertical level to convey the idea of a fold. There are clear differences in the texture of the different objects in the mural. The gazelle is perfectly smooth, while the ibex has a few shades showing muscles. The cactus is covered in barbs and flowers, giving it a very rough texture. The petals on the flower are folded over each other and a bit wrinkled as well. -
Hamdi Restaurant mural
The Hamdi Restaurant mural spans three walls (West, Back, and East side of the building), creating a continuous, unified piece. Melodee Strong uses large-scale portraits, geometric designs, floral patterns, and animal imagery to cover the surface. The large size ensures the mural is readable from a far distance as well as up close.
West Wall:
Composition: The west wall is a horizontal sequence of six distinct large portraits arranged across the length of the building. Each figure is surrounded by various animals, geometric, and floral patterns surrounding it. While each portrait has its own sections, the overall composition reads as a continuous mural due to repeating shapes, transitional patterns, and the flow of colors to create a cohesive background. There are six animals included in the mural. The arrangement alternates between portraits and symbolic imagery, encouraging the audience to shift between the different faces and decorative elements. There are six animals included on this wall, positioned by the different figures.
Line/Form: The outlines in the mural are bold and consistent in width. Strong uses contour lines to define facial features, garment folds, and edges of patterns. Curved lines appear in the mural for portraits and organic shapes. This is a contrast from the angular lines used for some of the geometric patterns. These choices help make it easy to distinguish between each design element.
Color/Light/Tone: The wall uses a wide range of colors, from warm tones such as oranges and reds to cool tones such as blues, and purples. The colors are layered to create balanced imagery. Each portrait section has its own dominant hue but shares complementary undertones to create a unifying wall. The bright orange on the left catches the audience's eye first, then it transitions to cooler blue and purple tones on the right. The cooler tones help the portraits stand out, while the brighter colors highlight certain aspects of the mural. Complementary color pairings enhance vibrancy and improve readability on the mural.
Pattern/Texture: The mural has repeated patterns such as diamonds, spirals, and other various shapes. This creates a decorative framework that unifies the different parts of the mural and adds texture. Back Wall: Composition: The back wall design is organized around vertical flowers forms that rise upward on the wall. These plants vary in height but fill the entire space of the back wall. The butterflies appear among the plants, they are positioned at various heights to add variation. The background colors blend to connect the west and east walls, connecting the walls visually. Line/Form: The stems and leaves consist of long, curving lines that contrast with angular patterns seen on the west and east walls. It also creates a point of connection with the organic features on the east and west wall. Strong also uses dotted lines on some of the plant forms to imply curvature and texture as well as represent another style.
Color/Light/Tone: The back wall uses blue hues as the background with warm and cooler colors as the main imagery. This creates a color palette that allows the images to pop. The background being one color allows the imagery to be the main focus of the mural as the simplified background prevents distraction and keeps focus on the imagery. Pattern/Texture: The back wall focuses more on plant imagery than geometric patterns. In the plants, she included details on the plant stems and leaves on both parts in different ways that create a texture to the images, one more realistic than the other. The wall carried the plant element that can be seen on both walls but does not include geometric patterns allowing for smoother transitions.
East Wall:
Composition: The east wall contains features of floral and geometric elements arranged together without portraits like the west wall. This wall uses repeated decorative motifs (geometric patterns and floral elements) and bright colors.
Line/Form: The floral elements are defined by bold curved lines, with geometric motifs around them. The geometric patterns include diamonds, triangles, and more which brings a straight edge element into the mural. The contrast between curved and straight line is consistent of that of the west wall.
Color/Light/Tone: The east wall includes vibrant colors. The background shifts to brighter colors such as light green, orange, and yellow. Meanwhile the imagery is darker tones. In this case, the same effect is occurring, having the lighter colors in the back allows the darker flower to pop. The background includes a gradient effect the brings together the different imagery.
Pattern/Texture: It contains multiple repeated imagery in different spaces. Including both geometric and curving lines. -
Chichén Itzá and Mayan Calendar
This mural is tall and vertical and features two main visual elements: a stepped pyramid, as well as a circular shape filled with curved lines. The pyramid occupies the lower part of the mural, while the circular shape occupies the top half. The pyramid is composed of light tan, maroon, and cream colors, with sharp and dark outlines that emphasize its geometric structure. Each step of the pyramid is evenly spaced, and other features are symmetric, giving the pyramid a sense of rhythm. The pyramid rises towards the center of the mural, making your eyes move to everything else in the mural. Behind the stepped pyramid is the circular shape, which is a large circular disk filled with stylized designs that are spread symmetrically around a face, which is centered in the middle. These lines and designs are painted in bright yellows and oranges layered on top of a dark blue background, which creates a strong contrast. The thick lines within the circular disk make it pop out and catch the viewer's eye. Surrounding the circular disk are small stars that help create a sense of the night sky. On both sides of the mural, different plants overlay on top of the main elements. The plants have various shades of green and expand to the top of the mural with curved edges. At the bottom of the mural is a swirling spiral painted with several colors of blue, which overlays flowing streams of purple, maroon, and dark blue. The smooth transition between colors in the spiral suggests that careful blending was done, while the rest of the painting was done with solid colors. Overall, the composition combines geometric shapes, such as the pyramid, and the flowy shapes, such as the leaves, and the bright colors and bold lines to make the mural feel connected and balanced. -
Coming Home
Scale: The size of the mural is very large, taking up the entire side of a building wall. To be able to capture the full essence of the mural as a whole, the viewer must stand far away. Standing up close provides the opportunity to see the intricate details that Al-Mansour has placed within her mural, whether it is within the background, the two large figures, or the objects.
Composition/Pictorial Space/Pattern: Al-Mansour divides the mural into two equal halves, each presenting an interior space with a single woman in the foreground. This bilateral structure creates a stable and balanced composition, with the two figures positioned toward the center facing each other while looking at one another through a gold-colored telescope. The woman on the left is standing in the foreground of a room with the wall and floor covered in purple squares and triangles. Additionally on the walls are two images of the Statue of Liberty’s head. There is also a window on the wall of the building itself, which Al-Mansour turned into a window of the left woman’s room with curtains. Positioned in the center of the room, there is a blue couch and chair with a yellow pillow, and a brown wooden coffee table with a book on top. The woman herself has shoulder-length blonde, wavy hair and is wearing a deep purple/magenta dress with black shoes while holding purple glasses. The woman on the right is standing mid-step in the foreground of a blue room with the wall and floor covered in a ten-star Islamic pattern. The wall also has an Arabic word written inside two of the stars, as well as a flock of birds flying to the left. The woman has dark, curly hair with a yellow hijab, and is wearing a yellow dress and brown sandals while holding a brown briefcase.
Al-Mansour placed both women in the foreground, toward the middle of the mural, making them a primary focus. Both women appear to be 3D, with shadows on the floor of the rooms, as well as highlights and shadowing on their clothes and bodies to give them greater dimensionality. The furnishings and patterns recede toward the back of each room, with a horizon line separating the wall from the floor to create spatial logic. The couch, chair, and coffee table in the purple room are all drawn smaller to give the perspective of them being behind the woman. The birds on the blue wall are drawn in different sizes, showing that some birds are closer to the viewer and some are farther away. All of this places the viewer at the forefront of this space, closer to the women who are at the front of the room.
Form: The women are drawn with attention to volume, using highlights and shadows to give them a more natural look. These natural, curvilinear forms of the women contrast with the rectilinear shapes of the background patterns and room edges.
Line: Contour lines define the edges of the figures, clothing, furniture, and architectural elements, which clearly distinguish from different parts of the mural. The geometric patterns rely on strong straight lines to establish structure in the walls and floors. Curved lines appear in the women’s hair, the folds of their dresses, the arc of the telescope, the cushions, and the curtains.
Color/Light/Tone: The left room uses shades of purple for the floor and walls, with a blue couch and chair and yellow pillow and curtains. The woman herself is also wearing a deeper magenta dress holding magenta glasses that appear to fade into her dress, but with brown shoes. The other room uses shades of blue, with some light purple showing up the closer it gets to the purple room. The birds are drawn in dark blues and purples to contrast the blue wall, or sky. They are also painted solidly, giving the illusion of shadows of birds flying in the distance, with not as much depth as the figures or furnishings. The yellow dress and hijab of the right woman contrasts the blue of the background, making her stand out more than even the left woman. The two dress colors are complementary, while the background colors are analogous colors. The way that the shadows on the women are depicted shows that the light source appears to be in between them. The telescope is painted in gold, also with shadowing and highlights to give it depth. The tonal shifts on the floor, clothes, and furnishings also enhance the illusion of form and depth.
Texture: Al-Mansour appears to use shading, with highlights and shadows, to create texture throughout the mural. Each woman’s hair and dress, as well as the furnishings, display texture. The left woman’s blonde hair looks straight with a few waves, and her dress is looser around her body and looks to be stationary. On the other side, the right woman’s dark hair shows lots of curls with her hair and hijab flowing in the wind, and her dress is tighter around the waist with some vertical ruffles that also looks to be flowing in the wind. Texture is also seen in the furnishings on the left side. The curtains framing the window are painted in such a way that suggested gathered fabric. The couch and chair cushions, as well as the pillows, were painted to look cushiony. -
Motherhood and Migration
This towering mural covers the side of a large building, prominently featuring a monumental woman holding the glowing golden silhouette of a child gently in her arms. The woman, depicted with a serene and thoughtful expression, wears clothing painted in earthy tones accented by vibrant touches of red, green, and black. Her hand rests on the child's head, establishing a powerful visual representation of emotional connection. The mural contrasts the rough texture of the brick wall with the smooth, realistic detailing of the figures, emphasizing the lifelike quality of the central subjects. -
Our Common Threads
Our Common Threads is a mural displayed on a deep black wall in the ChromaZone that reaches two stories in height. Capturing the majority of the wall’s space, is an Asian woman. The main point of focus is her face, with a bright skin tone that stands out against the flowing blue that shades most of the mural, including her hair. She is in the act of stitching threads and patterns into her dress, with smaller animals to her right and left. Overall, the mural is symmetrical and heavier toward the bottom. Against the black backdrop, the blue coloring, in addition to vibrant greens and pinks is bright and clear. There is even a tuft of purple hair that sticks up toward the front of her hairline and a white head piece that reflects Hmong culture, striped with black, which similarly stand out. Blue is certain to be the main color, in which her aqua hair transforms into waves of water toward the left of the mural. Additionally, her dress, which takes up the bottom half of the mural, is a similar bright blue that also seems to transform into clouds or waves on the left. The lines that evolve to these interesting features, all are thin and flow on a mysterious breeze. As if the lines themselves that paint the entirety of the mural, are themselves threads. Lines that weave and flow with both strength and grace.
When taking a closer look, other details begin to take form that appear to show Hmong culture. To the right of the mural, is a detached hand of the woman. Pink petals delicately fall from her palm, as blue fingers tightly hold a needle tied to a thread flowing to the right. A thread that is actively sewing small and intricate details of the lower segments of her dress, that continue to reflect Hmong culture. On the woman’s left, a deer sits sprinkled with a few colorful flowers. This deer mirrors a calmness similar to the woman, and gazes toward the stitch work of her dress. Assisting the mural, the wall of black behind the art is an extremely smooth backdrop; almost matte. To overlay the wall, the colorful mural is smoothed as well. Not one color appears solid, and all fade and flow in shades that help continue the smooth and curved appearance.
Looking closer still, reveals further intricate details seen in the mural’s foreground which stand stark against the smooth middle-ground and background. These many details bring together the reoccurring concept of Hmong heritage. There are small houses likely from a small Hmong village, that reside on the bodice of the woman’s dress. Reflecting on the blue coloring, an illusion of sky is created for the small village. There are also tiny people both toward the bottom and flowing fabric of her dress, and on floaties in her hair that further the illusion of water. More than likely, the villagers of the small village. Some are farming, and all are going about their day, in a calm and lovely environment. Next to a farming villager on the lower right of the mural, is a pink elephant that continues an Asian trend of beautiful representation. Overall, the detailed landscape continues the flow and weave of a landscape that has been solidified with the main woman of the mural. The subtle and primary features of the art fit together in sewing a powerful, yet soft message of Hmong beauty and strength that radiates from the mural.