Mural Painting

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2007-03-21 02:03pm

Ok, I've been commissioned to paint a mural at work, on an indoor wall. I have no idea what kind of paints/materials I'll need, so I ask anyone around here that might know.

Elheru Aran · Post by **Elheru Aran** » 2007-03-21 04:16pm

I did two for some friends of mine a long time ago. I used acrylic paint more or less straight out of the tube, little mixing involved as I used mostly straight colours. Just brushed it directly upon the wall after drawing my desired design there; in retrospect that wasn't a great idea as the drawing showed through the acrylic. Ah well...

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2007-03-21 04:18pm

This sounds more mean-spirited than I intend, but I have to ask how you were commisioned if you don't know the basics.

Go to a home-improvement store, and get acrylic wall paints (easily thinned with water and mixable) in primary colors so you can mix your own hues, and get a variety of different sized brushes from both the home-improvement joint and an art supplies store.

All that is of course dependant on what you intend to paint, but it's a start.

Elheru Aran · Post by **Elheru Aran** » 2007-03-21 04:24pm

Frank Hipper wrote:This sounds more mean-spirited than I intend, but I have to ask how you were commisioned if you don't know the basics.

Go to a home-improvement store, and get acrylic wall paints (easily thinned with water and mixable) in primary colors so you can mix your own hues, and get a variety of different sized brushes from both the home-improvement joint and an art supplies store.

All that is of course dependant on what you intend to paint, but it's a start.

I'm guessing it's probably the same way I got mine-- from a friend who saw my artwork and asked if I could give it a spin. He knows how to do the art, just doesn't know what media works best for walls, is my guess.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2007-03-21 07:41pm

Frank Hipper wrote:This sounds more mean-spirited than I intend, but I have to ask how you were commisioned if you don't know the basics.

Go to a home-improvement store, and get acrylic wall paints (easily thinned with water and mixable) in primary colors so you can mix your own hues, and get a variety of different sized brushes from both the home-improvement joint and an art supplies store.

All that is of course dependant on what you intend to paint, but it's a start.

Pretty much what Elheru said. At work (a small media company run by volunteers for the council) has a barren white wall upstairs that they think should be more inspirational. I was in casual conversation, mentioned I draw stuff occasionally, used to be quite good at painting, etc, so just sort of got conscripted, really.

I've painted with oils, acrylics and watercolours before, but it's been a while and I've never directly painted onto a wall. I don't know if wall paints are significantly different, or if normal acrylics are more likely to just chip off after a week or whatever, so hence the thread.

As for what I intend to paint, it's going to be a sky with sparse clouds, some water, and big rocks poking out of the water, complete with minas tirith-style buildings and towers cut into and placed on the rock and bridges between thems. Little boats on the water, too, plus vegetation, etc.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2007-03-21 08:38pm

Big wall-covering landscape murals benefit from exaggerated, surrealist, Salvador Dali perspective, I feel.

Perspective lines

Lay something (personally, I'd simplify it a lot)like that out on the wall before you begin, you can do it with string and a pencil.
With things diminishing to nothing off into the distance, you can really give it a limitless feeling.