The layers upon layers of decades of paint finally gave way to a stable wall surface suitable for my mural. After this project was completed I started painting murals on high quality composite panels that are then installed onto walls. Creating a mural on panels eliminates any issues that a wall may have

Rough sketches for the Kitchener Park project are composited onto a photograph of the mural building; a step I often provide so that my clients have an idea what the artwork looks like on location. Rough sketches allow for changes to be made, and in this case the sketch on the right was changed from a winter river scene to street scene in the spring.

One of the most important steps for any outdoor mural is surface preparation, so the primer and paint can adhere to a wall and enjoy a long art life. Removing old loose layers of paint that might cause the mural to flake off is important, and usually achieved with a quick pressure washing. This building took 2 weeks to prepare, with layers and layers of paint removal!

Jasper Avenue at the beginning of the 19th century is sketched onto the south mural wall in Kitchener Park. The tape in the middle of the wall represents trolly tracks, as do the curves at the bottom right, which carry over to the next wall and bring each wall's perspective together.

Sketched onto the wall, the Jasper Ave Rail Bridge and the Downtown Canadian Pacific Rail Station (on the left) will soon be painted into life. These landmarks were at the corner of Jasper Ave and 109 Street.

I'm caught sketching the Oliver mural into life with a pencil.

The final rough sketch of the south mural wall shows a very rough version of the High Level Bridge and it's first train. I changed the train scene to show it's engineer inspecting it, rather than the public hanging around, as shown in the sketch.

An outline for the High Level Bridge and it's first train is finally on the wall! The sky for this part of the mural has already been roughly painted in, and we can see all the painting that is soon to come.

St. Joachim's Roman Catholic Church was originally much larger and more prominent in the mural, being placed at a corner of the building. I tried wrapping the red brick church that was built in 1899 on the overhanging roof of the building, however the perspective just didn't look right from different viewing angles.

The Edmonton General Hospital replaces St. Joachim's Church on Jasper ave, beside Dewas Court. The protective window cages proved to be a unique challenge, as they offered just enough of a surface to convey a suggestion of an image.