The outline for the interior of the piano box mural has started, with a humpback whale, orcas and a harbour seal drawn in black marker. A mural outline is perhaps the most important step, and I rarely draw one without “erasing” a subject and moving it, sometimes only inches.

Time lapse videos caught me painting the sky for the Pacific underwater section of this Piano Box mural. As a BC mural artist I've had several studios, and this one was in Duncan, on Vancouver Island.

As a child, whales were one of the first things I ever drew. As a Victoria, BC mural artist who is always looking for spouts in the sea , it is very rewarding to paint whales, like this humpback.

The progression of painting bull kelp in this mural shows how different underwater seascapes can be; without a ground, it can be like floating in space. Eelgrass, seen on the bottom right, is essential at some phase for an estimated 80% of commercial fish and shellfish in BC's Salish Sea.