American Mural Painting Techniques

Fine Art Gallery, Atlanta Art Gallery, Black Artists,Atlanta Visual Artist Photo Georgia Gallery Paintings Fine Art Painter Corey Barksdale Atlanta Art Gallery

Tip #1 - Get Your Site Ready

Remove all furniture, and rugs from the room. Take paintings from the walls. If you have sharp edges make sure to tape them off or mask various sections. Place drop cloths around the area that you will paint.

African-American-art-history

Tip #2 - Choose the Right Mural Paint Medium

There are various options for the type of paint you use for your wall mural.
Oil Paint: Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. Commonly used drying oils include linseed oil, poppy seed oil, walnut oil, and safflower oil. The choice of oil imparts a range of properties to the oil paint, such as the amount of yellowing or drying time. Certain differences, depending on the oil, are also visible in the sheen of the paints. An artist might use several different oils in the same painting depending on specific pigments and effects desired. The paints themselves also develop a particular consistency depending on the medium. The oil may be boiled with a resin, such as pine resin or frankincense, to create a varnish prized for its body and gloss.


Acrylic Paint: Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints are water-soluble, but become water-resistant when dry. Depending on how much the paint is diluted with water, or modified with acrylic gels, media, or pastes, the finished acrylic painting can resemble a watercolor or an oil painting, or have its own unique characteristics not attainable with other media.

Spray Aersol Paint: Spray paint (scientific name aerosol paint ) is a type of paint that comes in a sealed pressurized container and is released in a Aerosol spray when depressing a valve button. Spray paint leaves a smooth, evenly coated surface, unlike many traditional rolled or brushed paints. Standard sized cans are lightweight, portable, cheap, and easy to store. Aerosol primer can be applied directly to bare metal and many plastics.

 

Tip #3 - Prepare the wall to be painted


Sometimes primer paint required for rough surfaces. Make sure the wall is pretty clean. Aerial lifts make your project easier to manage for massive walls. An aerial work platform (AWP), also known as an aerial device, elevating work platform (EWP), or mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) is a mechanical device used to provide temporary access for people or equipment to inaccessible areas, usually at height. There are distinct types of mechanized access platforms and the individual types may also be known as a "cherry picker" or a "scissor lift".

You can also utilize scafolding. Scafolding is a temporary structure on the outside of a building, made usually of wooden planks and metal poles, used by workers while building, repairing, or cleaning the building.

Tip #4 - Creating the mural

First sketch your subject onto the wall. Once the sketch is completed cover and block out the main object areas with your base color. Create your blends and gradients. After the base color dryes add a second and third level of paint for the detail areas. Add your final details to your wall mural painting.

 

Tip #5 - Final Touches & Finishing Up

The final step is to protect your wall art mural. We want to preserve the mural for years to come. A oil or water based varnish is the final step in some cases. Start from the corner and apply the varnish with cross-hatched brush strokes.