Mural paintings: just decoration or business?
Mural paintings: just decoration or business?
A home looks incomplete with beautiful masterpieces and paintings. It does not matter if the paintings are expensive or cheap, they should be attractive and pleasant to look at. Stop only if you have an eye for art, then you can understand the meaning and depth of the paintings that are used to enhance the beauty of your homes, hotels and offices.
- Mural paintings
Have you ever seen paintings or colorful drawing on public walls? These are murals. Murals is basically painting that can be placed on a flat surface and signifies some meanings or incorporates architectural designs. Sometimes the paintings can be abstract done just for fun and entertainment.
The city of Atlanta is full of Atlanta murals. On a road trip through the city, you can catch many Atlanta artists at the spot painting murals on the walls of subways and stations. These artists attempt to make their city beautiful, colorful and cover up the wall chalking that gives a negative impression.
- Commission a painting
Mural painting is not a joke. It requires a lot of effort and investment to come up with an amazing piece of art. The Atlanta artists needs paints and brushes in bulk quantity and spends many days in creating a Atlanta mural that is simply eye catching.
The Atlanta artists cannot carry out this entire process without a back up. They need to be sponsored for their efforts including time, hard work and money. Sometimes the governments also commission a painting so that the artist is motivated to continue his/her work.
- Impact of murals on people
If passersby see something colorful on a public wall, naturally they will stop for a minute and observe the whole master piece. The painting will have a direct or indirect impact on their mood and behavior. If you are having a bad day and suddenly you come across something pleasant and pretty, it will lighten up your mood and fill you with positivity. Similarly watching a mural painting full of colors on the way to your work or home, will fill you with happiness and positive energy.
- Promoting business through Atlanta murals
Murals can be used as source of advertisement. Businesses can hire Atlanta artists and ask them to draw a painting of their corporate culture on walls so that the passersby can come across the brand name. This will leave a lasting impact on people who pass by that wall everyday and hence will be able to retain the name of the company and its advertisement. It is defiantly an intelligent move.
On the other hand, having mural paintings hanging on the walls inside the offices can increase the company’s business. How? Adding colors to the dull walls of your office will lighten up the atmosphere and enhance the motivation level of the employees. Happy employees will be more productive and hence earn more profits for the business.
- Conclusion
Commission a painting will encourage mural artists to continue their amazing work of spreading love, adding colors to the dull lives of people and can be prove to beneficial for businesses as well at many levels.
Murals
Wall murals are the most popular and is one of the best ways to decorate a single wall or whole building. This technique of the outdoor wall decorations offers you the widest range of possibilities with the minimal budget. Depending on a climate and wall condition murals can last for a very long time, as ancient frescos. The amazing 3d imitations: ‘trick of the eye’, huge whales, astonishing landscapes in the middle of a city concrete jungles: all this is possible with the mural art.
Pros: can be done anywhere, inexpensive, eye-catching, endless styles and varieties
Cons: none, if done properly
Mosaic
Mosaic is one of the best technique for a large wall art. It’s very durable and can last for ages if made properly. Mosaic wall decorations are very eye-catching. Smalt (colored glass) mosaics are very bright in colors, they are perfect for kids playgrounds, in schools as a wall art. Mosaics that are made from natural stone have a very subtle exquisite look, delicate color palette and rich texture. Any type of mosaics can be used as on a flat wall or cover reliefs and sculptures.
Pros: never fading, durable, gorgeous
Cons: expensive to produce, labor intensive
Metal Outdoor Wall Decor
Wall decorations made from metal are quite often used as an outdoor wall art. Such decor is very long-lasting and durable, doesn’t require much maintenance, only painting it to protect from rust or polishing if the stainless steel is used. Very often, metal is combined with mosaic, stained-glass or covered with enamel in the outdoor decor. Commonly metal decor serves the role of protection: wrought iron window grilles and gates.
Pros: durable and long-lasting, sturdy
Cons: heavy, expensive to make
Relief in Exterior Wall Decorations
Relief is a great way to enhance and decorate the outdoor wall. It can be made of concrete, cement or ceramic. Concrete reliefs are often made straight on the final wall by applying the layer, carving and shaping the design while the concrete is still wet. Ceramic relief decorations are made in studios to fire the ceramic and enamel, and then installed on the wall piece by piece. Very often, relief is combined with other decorative techniques like mosaic, mural, and sgraffito.
Pros: durable and long-lasting, sturdy
Cons: heavy (not every wall can bear the weight), labor intensive
Sgraffito
Sgraffito (Italian: “scratched”), is a wall decoration technique produced by applying up to five layers of plaster tinted in different contrasting colors and then scratching the upper layers off, while it is still wet, to produce an outline drawing by emerging the color of the lower layer. Wall decorations using sgraffito method have muted colors, usually black and white with shades of gray, very graphic and decorative look. Though it is very old technique, but due to it’s unique capabilities and beautiful relief surface sgraffito is coming back into the modern world of wall decoration techniques.
Pros: durable and sturdy, unique classi look
Cons: limited color varieties, labor intensive
Wall Decor with Color Concretes
One of the least known and forgotten techniques of an outdoor wall decoration is the use of color concretes. It is often confused with sgraffito, but the technology of its application is completely different: the image is made of concrete tinted in different colors instead of paint. There are two variations of this techniques: “opposite” and straight application. In the first case the image is “painted” with colored concretes on the glass, then the color layer is covered with usual concrete. After drying glass is removed and blocks of the image made of concrete installed together on the final wall. In the case of straight application, watery concrete is used instead of paint on blocks of usual concrete. After drying blocks being installed on the wall. The difference between two techniques is that in the first case the “mural” is glass smooth (first images) and in another case it has a relief (sometimes up to 6 inches – as you can see on the second image of wall decoration).
It can be quite expensive to hire a professional mural painter.So many of us have a bit of talent and would like to attempt painting a mural ourselves, but just don’t know where to start.I would like to help you become more confident and give you a few tips on how to Do It Yourself.
Here is a question that a reader sent in earlier this week.
“I am in the process of doing a wall mural for the kids area of a church. I draw & love to do water colors but never painted on a wall. I need tips as to how to proceed, the type of paints to utilize & smart techniques. I am considering a noahs ark theme or a garden of eden kind of concept. Is there a site that has illustrations/demos?”
well lit Clarence
photo credit: danielle_blue
As a beginner, painting a wall mural can be intimidating.But it really doesn’t have to be if you have done your research and you are prepared.
Here area few simple steps for you to follow in order to be ready to “Get Your Paint On”.
1.Gather Reference Pictures – Take some time to research the subject matter of what you will be painting.In your case, you will be painting either a Noah’s Ark or Garden of Eden theme.Choose one theme and then do a Google image search.For instance, if you choose to do the Noah’s Ark theme, then search with these words – “Noah’s Ark Murals”.You will find so many great ideas this way.Print out your favorites and use them as reference for you to choose the different elements and colors that you would like to include in your mural.
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2.Purchase Materials -Now that you are set on a theme, you will need to gather your materials for the job.Here is a list of things that you will need.
Drop Cloths
Brushes (all different sizes)
Small Roller
Acrylic Paint (take your reference picture with you to make sure you get all the colors that you need)
Latex Paint (I use this for all my background painting.It is easiest to roll on those areas – cuts your painting time in half)
Bucket for water to clean brushes between colors
Roll of Paper Towels / Rags to dry brushes
Table to work off of
Medium – this helps keep acrylic paints movable
Overhead Projector – this is one of my favorite items to use and it is great for beginners to get an image on paper onto a wall keeping the exact proportions.All you have to do is trace the outline and fill it in with paint.So eas, especially when doing cartoon characters, animals, and other designs.
Overhead Projector, 2500 Lumens, 14-1/4 x 16-3/4 x 28
Overhead Projector for Mural Painting
3.Organize your Materials. I always like to set the stage before I start painting.I make sure I have a very organized work space and that everything is easily accessible.I have all my paints in one bin, all my brushes in another.I have drop cloths laid out and my bucket of water ready.
4.Start Painting the Background. Like I said, the best way to paint the background is by rolling it on.If you are painting a landscape, for instance, land & sky.Start at the top with the sky – roll it out and then do the bottom.
5.Project images onto the wall. Trace the outline onto the wall with a soft pencil.You don’t want the lines to be visible under the paint, so press lightly when doing the outline.You can also use watercolor pencils which blend well once painted.I sometimes even use chalk on darker base colors.
6.Get Your PAINT on!!! Use your reference pictures and paint away!
This should help you get started at least.If you are still unsure of yourself, you may want to practice with your paints on a sample board.But really, the best tool to use for a beginner is the overhead projector. Good luck all you DIYers out there!You can do it!!