Mural painting tip: Paint containers

by Meredith 27. July 2013 07:26

Painting containersRecycling plastic lids and hummus containers are my favorite paint containers. The plastic lids from containers that mixed nuts or peanut butter are sold in make the best paint palettes. And they fit perfectly into empty hummus containers. I would use one plastic lid for each color set and then store them in the hummus containers. They would stay moist for a day or two until I could paint again. If they dried I could then scrape the lid and pull the old dry paint off (it peels off like plastic) and reuse the lid. Cheap and super handy!

Mural painting tip: Creating continuity in color

by Meredith 20. July 2013 07:20

One of my major concerns when paint the murals was to make the colors seem cohesive over the entire painting. I have the tendency to use color directly from the tube and that can make the images very jarring as one color clashes with another. A trick I picked up in art classes years ago is to use a base color that all other colors of the painting are mixed with. The color from the tubes are then treated as pigments, tinting the base color into various shades. With Madeline's mural I used two colors as a base, a beige and a turquoise. Arianna's mural used mostly a beige and just a little bit of a gray blue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mural painting tip: Image collection

by Meredith 13. July 2013 07:14

For Madeline's mural I created contact sheets of images that I used as inspiration. It was time consuming to collect the images from the web, compile them into pages, and then print them out. I tried collecting the images into to Flickr and Picasa and that too was time consuming requiring downloading and uploading images. I finally figured out creating a Pinterest board and then viewing the images with my tablet was the best option. Covering the screen of the tablet with cling wrap worked to protect the screen from paint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mural painting tip: Small brushes

by Meredith 6. July 2013 07:12

During the painting process I discovered a trick that helped me work through some difficult parts. Whenever I found myself having to paint something that felt really challenging and stretched my skills outside of the comfort zone I would switch to painting with one of my smallest brushes. There was something about forcing me to make lots and lots of little marks that made the work look better. The little marks created more texture and forced me to make minute little details that can only be really seen up close. From a distance though they translated to highlights and shadows that overall made the painting look better. Changing brush sizes also made me change gears mentally; instead of trying to make the part fit into the whole painting perfectly, which became overwhelming, I just worked out that one little part. Once the fairy's face was working I could move on to making their body work. And then the wings, and then scenery around them, and so on.

 

 

 

The mural needs a photo shoot

by Meredith 17. May 2012 22:27

It would be nice to clean out her room and take some really nice photos with good lighting but setting that up is unlikely to happen for awhile. Until then, I have compiled all the photos we’ve taken of the finished mural into one gallery. I have also collected all the “Making of” images into its own gallery as well.

The Making Of Maddie's Mural

by Meredith 1. May 2012 22:50

I have collected all the “Making of” images into a gallery for easy browsing. I've also added captions to explain where in the process they were taken.

The tape is off…

by Meredith 13. July 2011 23:05

The tape is off of the mural border and the first coat of paint is on the arches. Sooooo close to being done!
















Last mural element complete!

by Meredith 12. July 2011 23:04

I think I am ready to peal the tape off the mural borders and paint the arches.










Mural wins!

by Meredith 15. June 2011 22:59

Totally had a Bob Ross moment while painting the frogs. I keep looking at them and thinking to myself "damn I'm good!" :D
















Finished the wisteria I think.

by Meredith 7. June 2011 22:56

Took a bunch of mural photos this morning. I think I'm done with the wisteria and nearly done with the castle. The tree panel is nearly complete. Still have to complete a flowering shrub, lily flowers, castle window, couple of frogs & fairies, a dragon and the railing. So close & yet so far!







About Meredith Cook

Welcome to my repository of creative expression. I'm not a happy camper unless I am making something and over the years I have dabbled in quite a few different kinds of art projects. Some projects come from taking art classes, others are completely hobby driven, and projects like home decor come from a need to customize an item and make it better or unique. The overall theme behind what I do is to learn how to manipulate objects and practice what I know about visual aesthetic and good design. Oh yeah, and to have fun.

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