Murals add color and narrative to school walls.
Painting murals and project walls in schools add vibrancy and color to the day-to-day reality of educational institutions. Designing a project wall for your school can be a group effort or a solo work that tells a story, expresses school pride or celebrates diversity. To make your project wall a work of art, spend a little time planning and preparing for the task.
Instructions
1. Plan the design for the wall. Depending on the size of the project wall, the size of your images should be proportional to the larger-than-life quality of most murals. Sketch the design in your sketchpad with several different variations. While not all murals have to follow the rules of depth perception, many interesting murals start with a discernible background and highlight interesting scenes, objects or figures in the foreground. Because murals are experienced differently than paintings, narrative scenes and panoramic views are often successful subjects. Look at artists such as Diego Rivera for examples. It's also a good idea -- and probably required -- for you to run your idea by school officials, who will make sure the school is supportive of the message and images of the school project wall.
2. Designate an order for tasks to be done and, if working with others, who will specialize in what part of the mural. Most often, the background should be done first and allowed to dry, but if working in a large enough space, others can simultaneously paint smaller sections or foreground details. Some of your peers may have special skills for different components of the mural; they excel at painting birds, for example, or they are great at making beautiful letters. Take this into consideration when planning the project wall.
3. Prep the wall for painting. Lay a tarp down beneath the work surface to protect the floor. Clean the wall with rags or sponges dipped in a bucket full of hot soapy water. Allow the wall to dry.
4. Apply painter's tape to the molding at the floor and ceiling as well as around any outlets that may be in the middle of the mural. Press down on the edges of the tape to seal firmly.
5. Pour white primer into the painting tray. Roll a clean, dry paint roller in the primer several times until you can hear and feel the surface of the roller sticking to the paint. Apply the primer to evenly cover the wall by rolling the roller in a large "W" shape and repeating the shape at different angles until the surface is uniformly white. Allow the primer to dry. Depending on the base color of the wall at the start of the project, you may need one to two coats of primer.
6. Draw the design to scale directly on to the wall using a pencil or light-colored chalk. Refer to the sketch for guidance, and take frequent steps back from the wall to get a good sense of proportion and scale. If you are painting a background image or color first, tape off foreground sections or details with sections of painter's tape to protect them.
7. Mix colors of acrylic paint in quantities proportional to the area to be painted. Squeeze the paint directly into a clean, empty yogurt container, and mix well using white to lighten the color and water to thin the paint. Do not make the paint too thin because it will drip down the wall.
8. Paint on the wall using paint brushes scaled to the size of the area and detail of the subject. For example, if painting a big sky, use the largest paint brush available to be the most efficient.
9. Wait for each area to dry before painting on top of it. Save any unused paint by covering containers with plastic lids.When the mural is complete, remove all painters tape.
10. Remove all of the tape when the mural is complete.
Tags: project wall, mural complete, painter tape, project wall, wall using
