Hello beautiful people! I'm here to update you on what I've been doing lately.
So recently I have been getting into the mural realm. This is the second mural I have done in the past couple months. This one is for a little boy's nursery. I wanted to post a little bit about my process and the steps to complete this mural.
So first off I did a bunch of sketches. I had about 2-3 pages dedicated just to different whales and trying to figure out the kind of whale I wanted to do. After that I did about another 2-3 pages of concepts before I landed on the final concept which you see to the left.
I then scanned this in with my Epson scanner. The scanner is nothing fancy, but a great budget friendly purchase. However, it has been discontinued. The Epson V39 is supposedly the equivalent.
After I scan the sketch, I use it as my bottom layer in photoshop and digitally render it in color. I have a small affordable wacom tablet that I use. It's a great starter tablet. You can find it here. I'm newer to the digital realm so I haven't invested a ton of money into drawing tablets. Someday I'll get a fancy one.
So to the right is my final computer illustration of the mural. The colors in the corner are my color palette options. The reason I do it on the computer is because I then project it on the wall to lay it down in pencil. It's quicker and easier then using a grid method.
I ALWAYS start with a primer base. I used interior Behr primer paint that matched the background color. This ensures longevity. Then you can use artist quality acrylics on top. I also used Behr white primer paint to mix with the acrylics for any tints. NEVER use water to thin your paints. I use acrylic matte medium, but you can also use glazing liquid.
You can see the stages of the mural below. Some people seal the mural with a varnish. I choose not to as I know the child will not what a whale on the wall forever, so I didn't want to make it more difficult to get off. If I was ever to do a more permanent mural, I would put a varnish on it.
So that's all folks. Thanks so much for reading and let me know if you have any questions or tips about making murals. Peace out girl scouts!
