Pittsburgh Pirates mural

[Cynthia Feustel]

I have been involved in some large mural projects and since this one contained portraits I thought it would be okay to post on the forum. This project was done for Pittsburgh Pirate CEO, Kevin McClatchy, to hang in his sports memoriabilia room. The mural measures 20 feet long by 6 feet high. His only request was that I show the four stadiums that have been home to the Pirates. He was responsible for the building of the newest stadium, PNC Park, so this was an important part of the mural. I created a sort of time line to also include portraits of some of the Hall of Fame players that played in each of the stadiums. I worked with the Pirate photographer to obtain most of the photo references and also had to do some extensive research for some of the other pictures (including obtaining usage rights).

The first two photos are of the mural in my studio. I paint on polyflax mural canvas which is later installed in the clients home. The project took five months from layout to installation.

[Cynthia Feustel]

Here are some more close ups. I forgot to add that all the painting was done in oil except fot the background and lettering which was done in acrylic.

[Cynthia Feustel]

Thanks Sharon.
I worked as a graphic designer in another life..."pre-computer age" that is. I felt my background in graphics really infuenced the way I organized the layout of the mural along with all the hand lettering we used to do before computers. I also took into consideration the personality of my client and the decor of the home.

Cynthia

[Michele Rushworth]

This is terrific, Cynthia. Do you still do a lot of murals?

[Alexandra Tyng]

Wow, Cynthia, this is extremely impressive. I am stupified by the thought of how much time, energy, planning and discipline this must have taken. I think it is wonderful how you tied everything together and overlapped the portraits of the various Pirates. Congratulations on a job well done!

Like Michele, I'd like to hear more about your role as a mural artist.

[Cynthia Feustel]

Michele and Alex, Thank you so much for your comments and your interest in my work. I am currently working on a new mural project that is 14 feet wide and 8 feet high. This mural will also contain portraits so perhaps I could even post it as a work in progress. I just got home from the studio and it is a bit late but I will definitely get back to you in the next few days to share with you more about my work . It has been a very challenging and exciting journey that has opened up a lot of doors for me.

[Karin Wells]

Masterful! Can you show us an even more detailed view of the portraits?

And I agree with Sharon, the lettering is elegant.

[Debra Norton]

Cynthia, this is truly awe inspiring. I would love to hear more about it.

[Claudemir Bonfim]

I second everyone's comments here. This is wonderful.