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
