Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Procession - Mural idea

I was approached to do a mural with a friend of mine. So I did a few sketches of ideas and this is my favorite of them. The wall is a long wall, about 6' by 20,' so my idea was to create a historic Hawaiian processional. This would be the first part of the processional and the wall.

I was going for a Big Island feel to the mural and the procession. Hence, the black space in the background and the blue sky for contrast. The Big Island of Hawaii is all lava rock and vibrant blue sky.

(I have not taken this to my friend the Hawaiian Studies teacher yet to get the authenticity rubber stamp, but I am liking the spirit and motion of this work so far.)

I have done my own extensive research on this. I am trying to picture a royal procession on the Big Island under the chief Kalaniʻōpuʻu, Kamehameha I's uncle. The figure holding the spear is Kīwalaʻō, Kamehameha's cousin, and the man he had to battle to unite the Big Island. The figure holding the idol, Kūkaʻilimoku, is Kamehameha, although he is not known by that name yet. 

I am debating about adding traditional tattoos to the figures. I need two Kahili Bearers, the first figure, but it was hard to resolve on the small scale. Also looking through historical images. There are a lot of different kinds of Kahili that would have been in use so I can have some fun with this.

This is only on the proposal level. So we will see what comes of it.  In the mean time, I am enjoying the creative process...