Yesterday we finished second coating all the restaurant features with the base colors. It was pretty cool but looked a little flat and bulky. I knew that would change in a hurry as we started in on the glazes to build up the layers of color.

Everything was good and dry this morning and it was time at last to add the color! I started in with a glaze color called October oak - the color of the existing woodwork in the original pub. This is the color of the woodwork we will start with there as well. It was slathered on the rough 'woodwork' we had carved from the concrete and then carefully wiped off with some old shop towels. The high spots wiped clean leaving highlights. The shadows stayed dark. With this, the lightest of the glazes we wiped it the least, gradually taking more off as we worked our way through the darkening glazes. The trees got an extra redwood glaze to warm them up and give a reddish tinge to match the concept drawings and make them slightly different than the trim to follow. Tomorrow we work our way up to the darkest colored glaze. Then we'll go on to the boar, the wall behind and lastly the bricks and rocks. Lastly, the lettering will be carefully hand painted to make it all pop.

If you look closely you can see the two squirrels and the bird hiding in the upper branches of the trees. The fox is still to come in the hole at the bottom.

Opposite from the fireplace, the entry and hallway are also coming along nicely.

I can hardly wait to see the last coats of color going on! Stay tuned...

-grampa dan