Steps of a Mural Painting

 

Step #1

After meeting with my client; talking about what she wanted and envisioned and showing me some pictures, I came up with this sketch. I used a long/wide sketch because the client had said that the wall was 3'x6'. The client approved the sketch and I went to work.

 

 

Day #1

I prepped the wall, that included washing off the wall with a wet sponge and some dish soap. After letting the wall dry, I taped the edges. I then wet a sponge and added some gesso. The original wall did not have much texture to begin with, but the gesso wash that I added helped in filling in some of the texture. I also wanted to add the gesso wash to the wall to make sure the paint would stick. The gesso wash dried quickly and I sketched out in pencil what I was planning on painting. Pencil is much easier to erase and change than acrylic paint.

 

*Side note: I was talking to my husband and he asked how big the wall/mural was. I promptly and confidently replied, 3'x6. He said so about this big, and demonstrated on a wall. I looked at him, laughed and then demonstrated about how big it was. He looked at me confused and asked if I had measured it; my prompt reply was nope. I had just eyeballed it and knew that I could paint it. Long story short, the wall is closer to 3.5'x 9'. 

 

 

 

Day #2

I like working the whole piece, no matter the size. I painted a base layer. With the base layer painted I could see how the paint was working with the wall and lighting.

 

 

Day #3

I again worked the entire piece, by adding more layers. The biggest change for Day 3 was the addition of the poppies. Other layers included highlights and shadows.

 

 

Day #4

The biggest thing on this day was the addition of the highlights to the fields. I was pleasantly pleased with how well the poppy fields look. I liked how the piece looked, and was mostly finished. I say mostly, because I had worked on this piece for 4 days in a row, and wanted to take a step back and look at it again with fresh eyes. I also wanted the client to look at see if there was anything else she wanted.

 

 

Day #5

I came back about a week later to double check, the client had asked for more bushes in the middle ground. Besides adding more bushes, I also made some of them bigger. The size of the bushes in the middle ground really added depth and perspective. I was also able to add more shadows and highlights to some of other areas. I am really happy with the final painting.