Welcome to the first step by step post on How2PaintMurals. I've been excited about sharing this process so here goes...
The assignment:
Paint a mural for a baby girls nursery that coordinates with bedding purchased by the mommy 2 B. The theme was Snails and Mushrooms. The bedding has lots of reds and pinks with little flowers patterned all over. The snails, mushrooms, and butterflies are very cute so she wanted some painted on the walls in little vignettes.
Level of Difficulty : Intermediate
Time Required : 2 days - 1 for measuring and sketches. 1 for painting.
Prep 1: Assess and Measure
So - the first thing I did was visit the mural site to take measurements of the room and placement of furniture. It is important to know where furniture will be placed so you don't waste time and money painting something that will have a dresser in front of it. Take all he measurements you can. Start with the rooms overall size -this room was 10' x 12'. I measured from the floor to the bottom of the window, above the window, around the closet, etc. You want to make sure you have all the possible measurements before you leave the site so that when designing the mural you can figure out the best placement of key elements. Draw a top view layout on grid paper if that will help you.
After figuring out square footage of the mural and how long it would take me to paint I discussed the price with the homeowner. Not always an easy thing but absolutely necessary to have a solid agreement on money matters before you start working on sketches.
Prep 2: Mural Design
This is the most difficult step for me -the actual designing of the room. Layout the room on paper (grid paper if possible for better measurements) as if you opened up a box to lay it flat. (I usually make a few copies of the layout page so I can sketch out a few options easily. The two images you see below include all the elements that I have to design around -windows, doors, closets, furniture, etc. Now using the bedding as an inspiration I begin to draw out the mural design. It doesn't have to be fancy or very detailed but it has to be readable and understandable to the home owner.
Prep 3: Set a Date
I emailed the two sketches to the mommy 2 be and once she chose the sketch she liked best we set a date for me to come back and paint. We decided on a Sunday morning to start. She chose the 1st sketch with the rolling hills around the room. I really liked the other sketch much better with the grass along the bottom. I thought it was pretty cute - if I do say so myself.
Supplies:
1. Small paint tray - Optional
2. Blue painters tape - any hardware store
3. Drop cloths - enough to cover the floor, furniture, etc.
4. White chalk - School supply section of any store.
5. Spray bottle
6. Sea sponge (Larger size)
7. One Gallon Bucket or comparable container for holding water.
8. Trash can lid (small) - I also purchased this from Smart and Final.
9. Deli cups - Medium and Large - I buy these at Smart and Final.
10. Acrylic Paints - I prefer Nova Color in Los Angeles.
- Unbleached Titanium
- Magenta
- Yellow Ochre
- Chrome Green
- Burnt Sienna
- Flesh Peach
- Cadmium Yellow
- Lavender
- White
- Acrylic retarder
- Matt Medium
11. Brushes
- #6 Round
- #8 Filberts
- #10 Filberts
- #4 Isabey round brush -or comparable
Prep 4: Paint Mixing
Anyhow, using the fabric and pillows from the
bedding I decided on the colors I would need to complete the project
and prepared my supplies. My assistant and I first mixed the glaze colors for the faux finish of the rolling hills.
Green: We mixed two glaze colors -each one in a large deli cup. I first filled the deli cup hald way with matt medium. (This is an acrylic painting medium that dries clear and allows you to thin the paint enough to have a transparent glaze of color.) I added about a half cup of chrome green to each and mixed it with a stir stick and set them aside.
Magenta: I then took a medium sized deli cup and filled it half way with magenta and about a tablespoon of unbleached titanium and mixed it up. I added a small amount (about one teaspoon) of the magenta to one of the containers of green glaze. Then I add a smaller amount of the green to the container of magenta. Now I have my two dominant colors - Green & Magenta - that share the same parent colors -chrome green, magenta, and unbleached titanium. I can use them to mix all my other colors.
Light Pink: Now I will add some of my magenta mix to a medium deli cup and add more unbleached titanium.
Light Green: This is one of my favorite colors...In a medium deli cup I mixed up the same 'original' green -chrome green with unbleached titanium - for this color I added more of the titanium and also a touch of the magenta mix to mute it a little and lastly a nice pinch of yellow ochre.
Prep 5: Placement
The first thing I did when I arrived with my assistant was assess the furniture placement and mark the walls with regular white chalk at the height of the dresser, cirb, changing table, etc. I used the tape measure when necessary and marked with white chalk. Now move furniture to the center of the room.
Prep 6: Masking off the Room
Now this is the most important step - I put down a drop cloth first and
taped it along the baseboard covering them neatly and completely to
keep that crisp white frame around the walls. I went all the way around the room and covered
all outlets and light switches, the window, closet, and door frames.
Lastly I cover the furniture with plastic drop cloths to protect it
from accidental spills.
After all the prep work was finished we could start painting. Finally!
Step1: Draw the Hills
I first drew the rolling hills around the room using the chalk and paying close attention to the chalk marks I made for furniture placement. I wanted to make sure that the hills rose above the crib so the baby would have a nice view of the mushroom and snail. I made sure that the hill was at the same height on either side of the window so it matched up and also on either side of the door. This photo shows the chalk line which is drawn very light but also how I taped the window sill.
Step 2: Faux Painting
Now for the fun part. The faux painting. Pouring the two green glazes side by side in the paint tray she began daubing on the paint staggering the two colors - more of the muted green on the bottom and more of the greener at the top. I followed with the sea sponge and quickly sponged the paint daubs in to the wall evenly. For the top edge of the hill use the sponge in quick short daubs along the chalk line and work down from there. This must continue till the whole room is finished. My assistant continued to daub the paint at an even pace in front of me so that we never had a dry edge to the faux finish. You want to continue around the room so you are working wet on wet. If you must stop make sure you fade the paint out with the sponge so when you begin again you can overlap the soft edge with a light touch and build up again to regular consistancy.
Step 3: Touch Up Along Edges
Once we had gone around the whole room we needed to touch up the corners and bottoms (just above the base boards) with a #10 filbert.
Step 4: Draw the Snails and Mushrooms
Starting on the same wall we began the faux finish on (because it is the most dry) I drew the snails, mushrooms, flowers, and butterflies with the white chalk. I had the sketch in one hand to keep with the approved design. I made sure to place the most prominant elements in places where they would be best viewed. Just above the crib and beside the dresser. For the most part these elements were on the highest parts of the hill. We re-assess the room once we have everything drawn in. This is our last chance to make any sort of changes before we begin to paint. The background color is the buttery interior housepaint the room was originally painted by the homeowner so It will not be easy to correct any mistakes without repainting the whole room with that color.
Step 4: Begin Painting
The first thing I did was paint in the mushroom bases in in the lighter pink. Mixing a very small amount of the light green with the light pink on the shadow side of the mushrrom Ifaded to just the light pink. This is a very subtle transition and is optional. I painted the shadow side with a little green to give the mushroom a little more depth. My assistant and i continued to paint in the shapes with mostly solid colors. We used more soft transitions in the snail and mushroom top. The mushroom top transitioned from the darker green on the shadow side to a mix of yellow ochre, light pink and green. It now appears to have a light and dark side and a warm and cool side. We continued filling in shapes mixing new colors on the raised portion of the trash can palette.
Step 5: Finish Painting
After we filled in all the shapes we added the little details. The small details make all the difference. We added a row of small
dots around the butterfly wings and outlining the patterns in the wings.
Here is the finished room. You can see most of the shapes are filled with solid color but the color combinations work well together. Everything stands out the way it should with the snail and mushroom being most prominant and the flowers sprinkled through out the room.
Step 5: Clean Up
The last and most anticipated step is the clean up. We carefully removed all tape and drop clothes. Moved all furniture back to its original position and left everything in good clean condition before showing the homeowner the result. Overall a great success! Lastly, we couldn't leave without our payment. A wonderful ending to a long day of painting.
