tropical sunset - exterior realism

Painting Murals Doug Myerscough - Liquid Murals      I get a lot of mail from artists, do-it-your-selfers, and youngsters who would like to know the process of painting a mural – what materials to use, what technique is used for maintaining accurate proportion on a large scale,  what the mural business is like etc.   I should preface by saying that there are as many ways to paint a mural as there are muralists – it re-invents itself somewhat every time. The methods described are by no means the only way to paint murals, simply the methods that have worked best for me.      When I began painting murals I could find very little written on the subject of techniques used in painting murals, and what I could find was often very academic and obtuse. I am writing this  "how to" with the hope that no one ever need repeat my many idiotic blunders along the way to relative competency. Someday (I hope) I will finish my book, but for now I am just going to use some excerpts that cover the most important points.

    I am not going to try to teach anyone to draw or paint other than to say - keep at it until it looks right and don't worry about how long your first few take. This is written for artists who have the skills and would like to know how to do them on a large scale, as well as those who are just curious about how it is done and a bit about what kind of person winds up doing this for a living.  For anyone who just wants to learn how to scale up designs to mural size, this is a good place to skip ahead to the section titled "scaling a design to mural size".  In the introduction, I'm going to blither on about myself for a few paragraphs - a few choice experiences and observations.  There may be a real danger of falling asleep and hurting your head on the keyboard, so don't feel obliged to read it. If you need to ask a specific question, go to the Message Board- I'll be happy to answer it if I can. I am hoping the board (I just put it up today 04/03/03) will eventually be viewed by other artists who may have even better answers or shortcuts to share.