What Is A Mural And How's It Done

So, many parents have asked me about the process of creating a mural on a wall. It seems murals are not something many people are familiar with, so seeing as we are not living in Michaelangelo's time, I would like to share with you a step by step on how I do it.

 I think first of all great planning is required. What image or story gets permanently added to your child's wall is so important to put attention into as what your child will be into now, is not the same as a year from now. Murals are paintings on the wall itself, they are not transfers or canvases. (If you live in a flat then perhaps a large painting on canvas would be better) Chosing neutral subject such as woodlands, magic forests, space, farms etc often are safest as they are subjects that as kids grow, it still feels safe. Often also adding more grown up elements to the picture, that perhaps you child isn't so familiar with or doesn't quire resonate with, is a good idea, as few years from now when inevitably they do become familiar with these things, they will grow to love the mural in a whole new way. 

I remember doing a magical tree for a little boy when he was 3, but I added many creatures in there that he didnt even understand what they were.

Later, when Oliver grew up and started learning in school about dissecting frogs and studying about many special insects, he was very proud to show off about his mural that depicted many of those creatures he just learned about. So where once his favorite element was the flowers and bunny rabbits, now it was the various breeds of spiders, ladybirds, caterpillars, frogs an so on. 

However, choosing Disney characters and specific stories is still a winner. I find normally playrooms are great for this. Especially families who have few kids all at different ages, and cousins or grandchildren at various ages. As Disney is timeless, and no matter which generation comes and replaces the next, these characters always stay loved. 

So once great thought has gone into the theme, the time for preparing the room begins. An area is cleared by the desired wall/s and plastic sheets are placed around. Paints are normally safe and unless the child has a known sensitivity to certain smells, no one has ever had any issues. I use a mix of acrylics from the art shop, child friendly wall paints for the larger coverage. Depends on budget or requirements, I love using textured or 3d elements such as fabric patches, rhinestone diamonds or plastic diamonds, glitter, glow in the dark paints and so on. I have also experimented with making the painting come out of the wall by using for example paper mache as the rockery and the rest of the landscape like the pond or sea painted on the wall as normal behind it. 

Often times, depending on the desires image, I find the whole wall/s need a new lick of

paint in line with the theme. So the rollers come out and the painter and decorator in me comes out. 
Also in the case of a painted sky on the ceiling, this would be the stage where I would call my Electrician friend to come and drill many little holes for the little

star lights to come through once the painting is completed.

To begin any mural, I like to normally grid it out so that after sketching the picture on a gridded paper, there's no room for loosing sight of perspective when dramatically increasing the size of the image on the wall. Saying that, depending on the image, freestyle can work even better sometimes! This magical tree is the most popular image parent's chose, as it is so versatile and unisex and can be part of many other scenes. This tree for example I can do without a grid, just some good planning on paper! 

Depending on the size and cost of the mural normally murals over 5k, come free with a hand painted story book to accompany the mural. In this story book I bring to life all the creatures, animals and themes and weave it into a beautiful children's story that the parents can use as an accomplice to their kid's nightly bedtime stories.

 This is a very special addition to the experience and gets created alongside the mural from the very beginning. To make the child a part of the process, I love to work with the child to come up with some of the characters and give them names and stories together. This is a very beautiful gift and kids love the idea of being involved in writing their very own children's story.

This storybook, for murals under 5k can be requested for £100. 

As you can see, a half done tree looks like a piece of Tim Burton's set design, however thankfully it's only half way.  I use a painstaking amount of details on my paintings, so even from the start you can start to see the many layers and techniques.

This magical tree in all its complexity takes on average of 5 full working days to complete, give or take a day or two. The starting price including materials is £1690 and is excluding travel and possible accommodation on commissions outside of London.  I also ask 30% upfront deposit.

Any additional requests to be added once price is agreed, are charged as extras. 

Additional elements  for example are, 3d objects like fences and real birdhouses which add a real feel. Painted, sometimes people ask for extra tree foliage coverage stretching across the entire top half of the wall. Other elements consist of ponds, streams, rockery and more creatures and wildlife. Also a background landscape and or a sky also have been requested.

I get my inspiration from everywhere, nature magazines, fairytale children's books, flower encyclopedias and so on. There are hundreds of plant species and what I love so much about murals of these type of themes, is that as your children grow they can learn about them at home. I normally add the different plant types as an encyclopedia in my children's mural storybook which serves as educational as well as for leisure. 

 Another element I forgot to mention, that I love to include in my murals is a more obvious educational theme. This various so dramatically from parent to parent, but some like to combine a growth chart into the picture, or a way of the child learning the alphabet or numbers or times table chart etc. Really the list is endless, however I will mention again, that your child/ren will grow fast and whatever you put there now, should be in combination with elements suitable for when they grow too. This only applies on the basis the mural isn't being used in a creche where there are always toddlers for example, or whether you are planning to produce a football team of a family over the next 10 years.

As you can probably see, I love fairies! Because many families have boys and girls I love experimenting with male and female fairies and mystical creatures of this sort. There are just so many to chose from! 

But normally having spiders and worms keep the boys happy, while the girls just adore their butterflies and flowers. 

And Lastly