Hanover, PA, Ceiling Mural
Sketches and Drafts
First pass
First designs, Feb., 2005
Basic design A. Notes, color treatment, and a cross-section below.
Alternate B. For just the octagon section, a sketch of the dome I
suggested earlier. I found it difficult to accommodate this sensibly
with the rest of the room. If you especially like it, I can revisit it. I
would probably hang the orrery in the dome.
a. Ceiling 'paneling' can be (painted) wood or plaster, or a more complex patterned tin (more authentic to the period). The pressed tin treatment would be substantially more work.
b. This is a high shelf that runs around the perimeter of the skylight opening. On it -- in perspective, just enough to identify, or perhaps tease -- would be a variety of objects. I'd work with you to develop this look. I don't want it to seem junky or cluttered, but I am thinking of the spirit behind Victorian "wonder cabinets" that were the precursors of Natural History museums. (Link.)
c. Central to the main room section is a rectangular opening to a high semi-domed skylight (see cross-section, below).
d. The ceiling paneling grid diverges into the octagonal window bay with a 7-pointed star of rhombic panels. This is centered about where the 4th corner of the main room would be. I would paint the star map(s) into these panels (Orion, etc.). One approach would be to make it as if the owner had papered those panels with actual star charts -- they could be peeling a bit at the edges and show fading. (See color treatment, below.)
e. A brass and gold orrery suspended from the ceiling. This could be of our own solar system, or in a Riven/Myst-like twist, could depict another cosmos altogether.
f. The inscription(s) you suggested can run along one or more sides of the upward-curving skylight dome.
g. The skylight itself would likely be black tracery against the twilit sky. I am researching Victorian patterns for window panes, stained glass, solaria, and skylights. In the center (not shown) could be a larger circular pane, set with a lens, which could show some star or the moon magnified. Light and shadow from the skylight would be cast inward on the domes sloping walls.
Another idea would be to include the phoenix emblem as part of the skylight pane design.
h. A gryphon statuette could be among the items on the shelves. Other ideas: specimen jars, globes, crystal balls, microscopes/telescopes/kaleidoscopes, scales, stuffed animals, geological specimens....
Sketch showing the approximate weight of the various color areas. I think the star charts would be a little lighter, a little bluer. The sky likewise should probably be a little lighter and a little bluer... too much red and it will defeat the sense of depth.
Cross section of ceiling as if it were actually built to this design.
The perspective POV will be approximately in the 'center' of the room -- in other words, slightly to the north of the center of the skylight. This will give a slightly better view of the objects on the shelf on the southern rim (as shown in the sketches above).