Garden Shed Mural
In May an awesome lady I know through the improv community asked me to paint large, colorful flowers on the boring grey shed that sits in her backyard. Her parents also have a house in the back of her property, and so they all had flowers they wanted to be portrayed - red poppies, sunflowers, and bluebonnets - on its surface.
Due to our busy schedules, I couldn't get around to it until last week. I blocked off three days from my calendar and set to work. There were a few problems I knew about from the beginning. First, I would be painting on a non-porous surface. The shed's exterior is made of shiny, hard plastic. Meaning, just adding paint would probably peel and fade over time. I was going to have to do some serious surface prep. Because of this, I decided to paint the whole thing with acrylic paints. This would be another difficulty because I would be mixing the paint in small batches from tubes. But, acrylic paints, if properly applied, are very long lasting and color fast.
I planned to arrive around 9am every morning and work until 3pm or so. After that the heat is just too much. I rubbed on my SPF 85 sunscreen and drenched myself in bug spray. After two hours in the sun I would repeat this process.
First, I needed to freehand draw an outline to all of the flowers, since a background was not going to be painted. And then within that drawing, sand all of the surfaces that were to be painted:
Second, I applied a Liquitex matte medium over the sanded areas:
Then, I carefully painted a thick layer of primer on top of the matte after it dried.
End day one.
Day two was to begin with the actual painting.
I needed to start by carefully painting in the background colors. I needed to make sure and cover up all of the primed areas.
This was taking me longer than I estimated.
I started to layer on some details, but I was running out of time and becoming over-heated out in the sun.
End Day two.
I was determined to be finished with the mural by the end of the day three.
It was a little frustrating that I could not improvise outside the outlines I had made for myself. I could only work within those primed areas.
The finished product (sans a matte varnish which I will go back and apply soon for a permanent surface):
Front view:
Side view:
full view:
detail view:
The client was very pleased with the end result and couldn't wait for her parents to see it. It was definitely a challenge to spend that much time painting outside. I spent a lot of time crouching and somehow still got a lot of bug bites despite all the spray I put on. I came home every evening covered in the grimiest layer of sweat. It's amazing. I never work outside and I certainly don't like to go outside all too often. At times it was almost pleasant, especially when a cool gust of wind would randomly sweep over my drenched forearms. I also managed not to get sunburned at all. Yesss.
The surface prep took up more time than I expected, but it worked out wonderfully, and now I know how to do it!
I have more commissions lined up for the future and with every project I complete I can wrap my head around the whole process more firmly. I really like projects like this, creating something for someone they couldn't otherwise make for themselves.
Due to our busy schedules, I couldn't get around to it until last week. I blocked off three days from my calendar and set to work. There were a few problems I knew about from the beginning. First, I would be painting on a non-porous surface. The shed's exterior is made of shiny, hard plastic. Meaning, just adding paint would probably peel and fade over time. I was going to have to do some serious surface prep. Because of this, I decided to paint the whole thing with acrylic paints. This would be another difficulty because I would be mixing the paint in small batches from tubes. But, acrylic paints, if properly applied, are very long lasting and color fast.
I planned to arrive around 9am every morning and work until 3pm or so. After that the heat is just too much. I rubbed on my SPF 85 sunscreen and drenched myself in bug spray. After two hours in the sun I would repeat this process.
First, I needed to freehand draw an outline to all of the flowers, since a background was not going to be painted. And then within that drawing, sand all of the surfaces that were to be painted:
Second, I applied a Liquitex matte medium over the sanded areas:
Then, I carefully painted a thick layer of primer on top of the matte after it dried.
End day one.
Day two was to begin with the actual painting.
I needed to start by carefully painting in the background colors. I needed to make sure and cover up all of the primed areas.
This was taking me longer than I estimated.
I started to layer on some details, but I was running out of time and becoming over-heated out in the sun.
End Day two.
I was determined to be finished with the mural by the end of the day three.
It was a little frustrating that I could not improvise outside the outlines I had made for myself. I could only work within those primed areas.
The finished product (sans a matte varnish which I will go back and apply soon for a permanent surface):
Front view:
Side view:
full view:
detail view:
The client was very pleased with the end result and couldn't wait for her parents to see it. It was definitely a challenge to spend that much time painting outside. I spent a lot of time crouching and somehow still got a lot of bug bites despite all the spray I put on. I came home every evening covered in the grimiest layer of sweat. It's amazing. I never work outside and I certainly don't like to go outside all too often. At times it was almost pleasant, especially when a cool gust of wind would randomly sweep over my drenched forearms. I also managed not to get sunburned at all. Yesss.
The surface prep took up more time than I expected, but it worked out wonderfully, and now I know how to do it!
I have more commissions lined up for the future and with every project I complete I can wrap my head around the whole process more firmly. I really like projects like this, creating something for someone they couldn't otherwise make for themselves.