If you are looking to add a fun and playful element to a wall in any room of your house, a wall mural is a great way to go. You may think it?s difficult to do or that you have to be an artist to paint a wall mural, but that?s not the case at all. Follow these steps to paint your own wall mural.
Getting the Tools You Need
When you decide to paint a wall mural, you will need to make sure you have the right materials. Depending on the image and how big your wall is, the tools you may need include:
- Overhead projector
- Transparency paper
- Black marker
- Roll of masking tape
- Pencil
- Painter?s tape
- Paint brush
- Foam roller
- Small artist?s brush
- Paint
After you have gathered these materials, you are ready to start painting your wall mural.
Cleaning & Priming
Before you start drawing your design or painting the wall, you must clean it. Make sure there is no water or structural damage or cracks in the wall. If you see any cracks, apply some spackle to them. Next, clean the wall of any dirt, mold, wax, or grease with a mild soapy solution. Make sure the wall is completely dry before continuing. Once your wall is clean and dry, you need to prime the wall. Priming the wall ensures that the paint will adhere to the wall easier and will last longer. You can apply the primer directly onto the existing paint, or you can remove the existing paint depending on how much effort you want to put into the project. Use an acrylic primer that you can find at any hardware store, and apply one coat over the entire wall.
Drawing Your Mural
After the primer has dried, you are ready to draw your design on the wall. You will need to get an art projector, which can cost from $50 – $650. If this is a one-time project, you might try to borrow or rent one from an art school or see if your office has one. If you want to invest in one, you can find used ones on Ebay or Amazon. Once you have your projector, project your image on the wall, and trace it with a pencil.
Painting Your Mural
Next, you can start underpainting. Use interior household paint to paint large blocks of color (blue skies, green fields, etc.). Once the underpainting is done, you can start painting the details of your image. There are several techniques you can use to paint your mural. Sponging creates texture and is a good way to paint clouds or leaves on trees. For this method, wet a sponge, squeeze out excess water, and dip sponge lightly in paint. Lightly blot the sponge on some paper towels to get off any excess paint, and then apply the sponge to your mural. Another technique you can use is stippling. You will need a stippling brush, which you can buy at a craft supply store. After you have underpainted a large part of your mural and it has dried, like a green field for example, paint a light coat of another color on top of it, like a yellow-green or darker green. While the paint is still wet, dab the wet paint with a stippling brush, and dab the new color until the new layer is completely stippled. You can repeat this technique using as many colors as you like until you achieve the desired look.
Final Steps
Congratulations! You have finished painting your mural! To make sure that it lasts and stays looking beautiful, you need to apply an isolation coat and varnish. Choose a clear, non-yellowing archival varnish in a matte or satin sheen. To apply the varnish, follow the directions on the bottle for the proper water to varnish ratio, and then start in the corner of your mural making little x?s across the wall with a wide paintbrush. Once that is complete, your mural is finished! If you?re feeling daunted by your painting project, we?re the Houston painting company to help you out. Pro Painters has been serving the Houston area for over 20 years and is passionate about painting projects, large and small. Give us a call at 281-870-2417 for a free quote and learn how we can help you.
