Mural Art – Why I Like to Paint BIG, Why Murals Are Positive Elements in the Communities

Painting a mural is the most gratifying experience that I have had. Painting at least the size of real life almost makes the mural come to life. As if I can step and walk into the painting, step or walk into my mind. In a sense it is like I am stepping into myself.

I have painted quite a few large murals for clients. Every one has been super rewarding. I learn more about painting in one mural then I learn in painting a dozen small paintings. If I had to pick one size to paint all the time it would be mural size.

~Why I feel artists Mural
Mural Art can define time. All of our ancestors participated in mural arts. They used murals to describe history, events, timelines, possible future events, maps to the heavens, sacred rituals etc. Mural art is empowering, it takes the subject matter to the very edge of bringing it to actual life because of the magnitude of its size. Murals involve communities and they bring people together. Brings people in the community together because murals usually are a reflection of the community. Whether the community is a rural town or large inner city they help educate by showing culture, diversity, history and help to beautify the area.

~Using the Grid to mural~
When I execute a mural I sometimes like to use the grid method to get my image on the wall. I do this depending on the intensity and detail of the mural. For those of you that don’t know the grid method I will briefly explain, You draw out the image on a smaller sheet of paper. After you draw it you use simple math to construct a grid on top. Example. I will make 1inch by 1 inch squares on top of the drawing. Depending on the size of the wall I make a larger grid to scale. I will make the squares in the larger grid sometimes 1 foot, 2 foot, 3 foot etc. The size of the grid on the wall depends on the size of the wall. The bigger the wall the bigger the squares. The largest mural I have painted was in the Scottsdale museum of fine arts, it was 40 feet long by 24 feet tall. I used 2 foot squares for the grid. The purpose of the grid is to find where you are in in perspective and proportion giving you guide lines to follow.

~Briefly how to Begin to mural~
My biggest goal is to continue to travel around the world painting murals. There is a formula to ever success. In order to get hired to paint murals in your community as well as all around the world you have to start murals. It is difficult sometimes because as a full time artist you need eat and earn money. You also need to get your name out there and let the community know that you are a muralist. To get your name exposed a muralist will donate his/her time to the community and does a few murals for little or no pay. This is done because you need to build a portfolio of murals in order to be sought out by other organizations that need murals to be done. Once the artist has about half a dozen legitimate murals then the ball starts rolling a bit and you might start to get a few paying gigs. Because I had a reputation already with the community and I have built a strong clientele of people that buy my art, starting to find mural work came naturally.

~My First Large Mural~
Before I executed my first mural I had painted large on canvas 5 foot x 10 foot. My first mural I painted was 40 feet long by 24 feet tall. I was a little overwhelmed at first. This was to be executed in the Scottsdale museum of the arts. I was a little nervous because I had never painted this big let alone in a first class museum. I took control of my anxiety and got to work. We had scaffolding, ladders, drop cloths, tools and paint, lots of paint, the whole nine yards…. I gridded the whole wall out with 2 foot by 2 foot squares. After doing the grid I felt way more confident. I drew my picture all out. After I drew it out I started with the color fills. Before I knew it the mural was taking shape and form and I was feeling not just better about myself but proud of myself. The point is: You have to have a strategy, a plan of action with well laid out steps for anything to be accomplished. Now I paint murals all the time, I am known to finish them sometimes in less then a few hours. But it took hard work, willing to have a open mind to learn and a honest sense of humility.

My goal is to continue to paint murals. Travel while doing it. Combine the elements of abstract art, modern wall art, Buddha art, pop art and stencil art into the creations that I partake in. Also to continue to get paid well while doing it and contribute to the communities.

By: Banding Hendrix

About the Author:

business and marketing