Mural painting

Painting Murals.




Because I have spent twenty five years in the film industry, painting murals became a regular occurance in my life. I've worked with great muralists and not so great ones. Some are good at very large projects and some, smaller works.



One important thing that I learnt was that whoever wants a mural would like to see what they are getting before it's completed.



I took a coarse on Photoshop at Quantlen College and that was an excellent way to convey to my clients a visual representation



of my work before it is complete. Submit an idea to me, and I will give you an idea of how to turn it into a beautiful image that fits into you space.



The first consideration is light source. If your mural is in a hallway or away from natural light then you must consider your lighting arrangements. Even opposite a window you may need additional light to show the mural at night .



The light source is also of prime importance when painting the mural. Unless it's an abstract work with no need for an apparent light source. Any landscape, still life, figure or street sceen needs it's own apparent lighting. I usually have the painting lit from where ever the actual light is coming from, so as to not conflict with it.



Surface preparation must be done carefully. Fill, sand and prime with a top quality primer. Also be aware of your roller texture and/or brush marks to make sure they are compatible with the painting.



I spend a lot of time researching a mural before it is painted. The best painting style is wasted if the composition is wrong.



Placement of the mural and the position of the images with the mural are best delt with by drawing them out first and using whatever means you are comfortable with. I use photoshop, as it really help to convey to the client what they are going to see before the mural is painted. It's a lot easier to change before the hours have been spent painting the mural.



Colour mixing is a skill and without any art training it takes some raw talent and a do it anyway attitude.



My advice is to paint on a sample board first to warm up and discover the intereaction of you colours.



Using chalk or pencil is also a good way to put the image on the surface and see how it fits. If it is a complicated scene, and if you have a digital projector, than projecting the image and drawing it out from the projection is the best way to do the lay out. A thin mix of raw umber and a small brush is an excellent way to quickly sketch out the image.
After the surface is ready then the image has to be placed on the wall. The old way to do this was by way of a grid, a small grid on the orinal image and a large grid drawn on the area to be painted. This is useful if there is not enough space to use a digital projector, which, saves lots of time and places the image right where you need it. Use pencil or calk for this step and be loose with your style, try not to be rigid.
Once that is done then you can start blocking in the main colours. This is just putting in the background colours such as sky and buildings, or fields and mountains.