If you’ve ever admired the beauty of a well-made wall mural, you’ve probably thought about making one. It really isn’t that hard, especially if you are artistically inclined in the first place. However, there are still a few things that you need to know before beginning such a task. Let’s go over a few beginner’s tips on how to paint wall murals.
Always Start With Measuring And Sketching
The first step is to take a look at your targeted wall area. Make sure to bring a tape measure so that you can get the dimensions of your “canvas.” It also helps to mark the midpoints of all four sides, as this helps you to find the exact middle of the area. In many murals, the most important images are placed front and center, so this can be a big help.
Having made your measurements, you can then make a preliminary sketch with pencil and paper. This will allow you to test the ideas that you have in your mind and see how they actually look when put together. This is the time to correct any mistakes and hammer out the details of the design itself.
When you are planning a wall mural, you should think about the surrounding area and the significance (if any) of the area itself. You generally don’t want to create something that looks too out-of-place. It is good to blend with the colors of the surrounding area and to use an art style that fits as well. This may not be a consideration for all murals, but most of the better ones are designed with this principle in mind.
Protect Your Working Area
Regardless of where you are working, you should take steps to protect the surrounding area. It is virtually impossible to paint anything without at least spilling a few drops here and there. When you are painting a vertical surface, it gets even harder to prevent spillage.
This is why smart mural painters will always put something down on the floor or ground around the area. A cheap plastic sheet is a bare minimum, but canvas tarps are far better. They can be re-used, and they are much more durable. Plastic sheets are easily ripped and are generally disposable, but a good set of canvas ones can last for years.
Masking tape is also a great tool here. Nothing ruins the look of a wall mural like unintentional splatters and irregular lines on the outside edges. Taping off the edges will ensure that your artwork fits perfectly in the available space. We would recommend using multiple layers just to be sure the paint won’t bleed through.
Make Use Of A Wall Projector
There is just one problem with paint: It only goes down once. Yes, you can use paint thinner and scrub a paint job off, but that is a serious pain. Thus, paint is rather unforgiving of mistakes. This is part of what makes an expertly-done painting so impressive. It isn’t like a pencil drawing, where you can just erase everything that isn’t right. For this reason, it is helpful to have a little shortcut technique.
A small and simple wall projector is generally not that expensive, especially if you buy a used one on the internet. Using an acrylic sheet and dry erase markers, you can create a general outline of your mural which can then be projected onto the wall. You don’t have to get every detail, of course. The purpose of this is to make sure you get all your proportions right. Having done that, you then can use the projection as a guide when you do the final painting.
Conclusion
It is difficult to give precise instructions for a creative project like this one, but we hope these tips have been helpful to you. In the end, a good mural comes down to good planning and preparation, just like anything else. If you simply grab a few cans of paint and start working, you are likely to make small mistakes that you will later regret. While there are some extremely talented people who can work like that, this article is written for the novice. Even an amateur painter can produce a stunning wall mural by following these simple steps.
