Painting Your First Mural — How to Get Started
Painting a mural seems like an intimidating process, but we promise it doesn’t have to be stressful. Don’t get us wrong, it can get messy, and is a lot of work, but with some practice, you can easily execute one yourself. And we won’t have you buy a bunch of fancy supplies either...just the basics to get you on your way without breaking the bank! If you want to take a look at our supply list, it’s here.
If you’ve never painted a wall before, the best place to get experience is in your own home. The great thing about painting murals is that you can always paint over it if you don’t like how it turned out (or before your landlord sees it)! Just wait for the paint to dry and start fresh. Nothing is permanent in the world of mural painting!
With something as simple as painting a mural on your wall, you can totally transform the look and feel of your home. You can turn your space into your own personal zen den that makes you feel at peace after a long day of work. Or maybe you want to make a bright, colorful space that feels like your own little haven of happy. Do it! Maybe you’re looking for a way to make a small space feel bigger and more inviting...you can totally do that too! Perhaps you’re more of a neutral person...that’s cool too! Through paint color choices, you can really customize any space to create something that is 100% you!
We have been craving painting florals lately, and it’s not something any of our clients have been asking for. So we decided to paint something in Roxy’s apartment...just for funsies!
We started by painting the background black and then sketched the flowers and leaves on the wall with some chalk. Chalk works a lot better than pencil because it easily wipes off if you mess up AND you can just paint right over it. We love the chalk from the dollar bins at Michael’s (regular school chalk- nothing fancy!). Obviously if you’re sketching on a white wall you can’t use white chalk and you’d have to use pencil. When using pencil make sure to press LIGHTLY. Painting over pencil can be really tedious!
We picked some purples and yellows for the flowers to match with the rest of the space. Keep in mind, if you’re using yellows...they’re notoriously see through. Which means you’re gonna have to do a lot of coats! Reds and oranges act the same way unfortunately, so when you’re using these colors prepare for it take longer than normal.
This piece took us about 4 hours and the mural totally transformed the dining area of the apartment! We played with painting over the door for an interesting look and we love how it turned out. Notice that the mural doesn’t take over the entire wall. Murals can cover partial areas of a wall and still make a huge difference in the space.
If you don’t want to paint a mural in your home, we recommend donating one to a school or a non-profit organization to get experience, but NEVER to a business. This could be a future paid client for you! Don’t shoot yourself and other creatives in the foot for any future work.
Good luck and let us know if you have any questions about painting murals! For more tips on mural painting make sure to grab our book Wonder Walls!