(by 1 person)
Murals
Murals are a fun way to brighten up a room, and/or to get lost in some scenery.
The Plan
The mural above was done for an assited living community in my local area. I left two sign up lists for the residents; one was of desired items to be in the mural, the second one was for their favorite colors to be in the mural.From those lists, I went to work on a sketch. Given the area I had to work in, I decided on a 5'high by 6' wide mural. I made a sketch 5" high by 6" wide to keep the dimensions thate same.
Drawing it on the wall
When measuring, I used low tack painter's tape to mark my corners. I then taped in the rectangular area with more painter's tape. Then I marked off each foot with a small strip of painter's tape that extended outward from the original rectangle. This gave me the scale I needed.
I used watercolor pencils for drawing the picture on the wall. They are helpful in that they can easily be wiped off with a damp paper towel afterwards, and/or easily painted over. They also provide a color scheme to follow.
I used watercolor pencils for drawing the picture on the wall. They are helpful in that they can easily be wiped off with a damp paper towel afterwards, and/or easily painted over. They also provide a color scheme to follow.
The base coat
Once I got the drawing sketched in, I used a base coat of the preliminary colors. For the larger sections, I used a sponge to apply the base coat with. When painting with acrylics, I always wet the sponge and/or brush first, squeeze out the excess water, and then dip it in the paint.A quick time saving tip that I've found helpful, is to mix my artist varnish in with the paint, before applying it to the wall, instead of applying the varnish separately afterwards.
The next layer
After the base coating, I then added my acrylic varnish mix using brushes, sponges, etc., whatever was appropriate for what I was painting. Part of determining what was appropriate is asking, how close to the foreground is it. The closer to the foreground, the more visible the details. So with distanct trees, sponges were great. For finish details of close up grass, a fan brush gave great results.The painting is looking smoother and coming more alive.
Completing the second layer and adding more details
As I applied successive coats, I kept working forward, from the sky and mountains, coming down to the forefront. I changed colors as the second layers were added, providing more depth and dimension. As one area was drying, I worked on details in another, i.e. various shades of yellow were added to the flowers as well as stems. I added visible trees that are nearer to the viewer, the further trunks being darker, the mountains are now definitely in the background. I also decided on a group of trees right behind the horses instead of a single tree to the right.Note, the trees in this picture are a little different from the actual painting; they are actually various shades of green in the painting, not silvery looking.
The completed mural
I have added trees to both sides, finished all the second layers, added details to the animals, and a fence which also gives more of a sense of distance.Also, the colors show better in the actual painting, i.e. the white horse has blotches of gray which can be seen in the actual mural.
Favorite Mural Painting Books
For the artist in you: Would you like to paint a mural?
Projection Stenciling by Linda Buckingham
<p>Projection stenciling is more...0 points
Mural Artist for Morgantown, WV:
For those in or near Morgantown, West Virginia, you can contact Cheryl Paton of Creative Brushstrokes, LLC to paint a mural for you. Send your request to creative-brushstrokes@comcast.net or click on Contact Me in the bio box by my photo at the top of the page.
Have any comments and/or tips you'd like to share, post them here.
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lovemybob
Great idea for a lens! Posted September 29, 2007 |
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CardLady
This sounds like fun! I would like to see larger photos and also photos of you working would be very cool! Posted September 21, 2007 |
