Planetarium Mural
Below is the biggest, most important project I have worked on to date. This project combined my love for mythology and art with a new love of Astronomy. This project drastically helped me improve as an artist and helped shape me into who I am now. This project, sadly, is no longer on display, as the Planetarium it was in no longer stands.
For context, I will give you a little history on the mural. The Edwin Clark Schouweiler Memorial Planetarium was established in 1969. The Planetarium’s original black light mural is displayed as the before images. What information could be found about the original mural is that the first director of the planetarium commissioned students to paint a mural in the newly built planetarium. Not much was found about these students or the year when the mural was originally painted. When I was commissioned to repaint the mural, part of the design was missing because of a new door that was added to the planetarium. After repainting the designs were missing, I worked on updating the existing designs, not only to match the style of the repainted designs, but also because parts of the walls needed repairs.
It was agreed that we should date the entire mural with position of the planets. There was some discussion on which date to use, but it was finally decided to place them in the spots they were during the Transit of Venus of 2012. This is most obvious in Taurus, where you can see the sun with a small Venus going across it. All the planets are marked with their appropriate planet symbol. Included are the Sun, Moon, the planets and one dwarf planet. By adding the planets, it gave us yet another teaching aid. We were able to demonstrate how the planets move along the ecliptic. By including this addition, we were able to use the mural as a teaching tool as well as it being an intriguing design.
I have placed all the images into a grid directly after this text. After that is the artist statement and then each design with an explanation showing the before and after images. At the very end is the entire mural as a panorama. For scale, the largest design, Virgo was about 6 and a half feet long.
Artist Statement
When I was recreating the mural, I was inspired by classical factors such as Greek design and star charts as well as the original composition. I looked at the individual works and modified them to fit these inspirations.
Initially, my goals for this project where limited to addressing line quality and anatomical issues. As I continued work, I was given the opportunity to redesign some aspects of the composition completely. In the end, I feel that my efforts have both maintained the essence of the original work while allowing me to add my own artistic flare. The new work is eye catching and receives many compliments.
The medium for this work is black light paint lit from above with black lights. This is a medium that can be seen in white, and natural light as well. By giving the composition such options, it has obtained a dual perspective for the viewer. The first, a vibrant, eye catching feel to mimic the night sky alight with stars. The second, a softer background note. Still visible, the designs find a clearer purchase on the black background and allow the viewer to examine them in a less intense setting.
Aquarius
I started with Aquarius, so it’s the one that looks the closest to its original designs. The changes that were made were fixing anatomy, making the lines more consistent and thicker, as well as correcting the facial structure and fixing the hair.
Capricorn
This design had the most changes on this wall. When I redesigned Capricorn, I added more goat characteristics and manipulated the lines for the fur to make it have a more “fluffy” feel. I also changed the horns to give them more curve instead of sticking straight above Capricorn’s head. Again, like the other designs, I enhanced the line quality.
Sagittarius
This is the second design I worked on because I wanted to get all of the green constellations out of the way that were on the same wall. I made very similar changes as the ones made in Aquarius. Some of the change included anatomy and line quality. One of the challenges with this design was to try to make the head proportional with the rest of the body. To accomplish this, I had to make the hair and the beard narrower and to make the face look smaller.
Ophiuchus
The serpent bearer and thirteenth constellation of the Astronomical Zodiac is represented by a blue line and 3 stars to the left of Scorpius.
Scorpius
This design was almost completely reworked from the original. I wasn’t very familiar with the anatomy of scorpions, so in order to give the impression that the scorpion was going to move at any second, I did extensive research on scorpion anatomy and the way they move. Some of the changes that I made were to make the legs, mandibles and tail look realistic.
Libra
Libra was the constellation that needed the least amount of changes. I made this design look more symmetrical as well as making the lines thicker and more even.
Virgo
In my opinion, Virgo needed the most work. The original design did not look very feminine, and the anatomy was very awkward. Overall, this design took the longest to draw because I wanted to make sure that the only female constellation was well represented. In the new design, I had her hold more wheat. I did this because in every description of Virgo that I found, she was depicted holding two sheaves of wheat. Another detail that was changed was her outfit because I wanted it to look more Greek.
Leo
This constellation also required a lot of redesign. I changed the position of the lion’s body and made him look like he was lying instead of getting ready to pounce. This is different from the old star chart designs, which show him leaping or pouncing. I did this because this is how we normally describe the constellation of Leo when the planetarium staff is giving a night sky tour.
Cancer
Cancer didn’t require that many changes. I had to make a few minor changes to make it look more crab-like. In order for me to expand upon the design, I added a depiction of the Beehive Cluster. Under black light, this patch looks very similar to how it normally looks in the night sky.
Gemini
The original design had some anatomical issues. These were fixed and I endeavored to make them more similar to emphasize their being twins.
Taurus
This design is one of my favorites because I love how beautifully the horns turned out. I designed the horns this way because I wanted them to resemble the bovine from the ancient Greek areas. I also picked it because I needed a type of horn that stood up straight so it matched the constellation outline. Something I added to this design was a depiction of the Hyades and Pleiades clusters, which are prominent features of the constellation.
Aries
I drew this design not long after I finished the first wall, since much of the reference material I used for Capricorn was useful in designing Aries. I used the original design as a basis for the drawing and then fixed many errors with its anatomy. Once I was able to sketch the design on the wall, I made changes to the hooves and joints to simplify the design and to help it match the style of Taurus and Capricorn.
Pisces
While trying to decide what kind of fish would represent Pisces the best, I wanted to choose one that would have been native to the ancient Greeks, but I wasn’t able to find any that would also be similar to the original design. So, I decided to use salmon, since it is one of the most recognizable fish. The small orange dots are water droplets as the fish jump out of the water.
