Step-by-Step Mural Painting Guide
 
Techniques

So how do you go about pulling your design together? I found the best way was to try and visualise what you want to achieve in a room. Then look at what design you are going to choose.

Firstly decide on where the furniture is going to stand, after all there is no point painting a mural on a wall which is going to be half covered by a wardrobe or painting a design low down where the bed or cot is going to stand.
Plan the layout and see what wall space is left, you can even move the furniture around the room until you are happy with the placement as this will give you an exact idea of what you are dealing with.
Once you can see what wall/door/ceiling space you have you can set about choosing your design.
If the room already has a carpet and you are not looking to change it, then bear this in mind when thinking of your design as a bright red carpet will probably not match well with a yellow and green design.

Okay so now you have your wall space and you've thought of the theme you'd like and the paint effect you are most comfortable with using, where to now?
Design, in my book, is about keeping it simple and above all cheating wherever possible!! So I decided to look at some techniques which I felt covered these two areas.
If you can find a picture which exactly matches what you want then great as this is the easiest option, you have a template to work from and you can use parts of the picture to carry on a theme, i.e. Lion cubs from Lion King or lobsters from The Little Mermaid.
If however you would like to use different characters in one background i.e. the elephants from Dumbo and Baloo from the Jungle Book all in one scene, or if you would like to merge Donald Duck, Goofy and Bugs at the seaside, or if your going for Trompe L'Oeil and want to paint the illusion of the seven dwarfs peering over the top of babies cot then this is where it becomes a bit more tricky.

Firstly gather all the images you like together, this is where the use of a computer comes into it's own, the next step is to morph the images together, I know this sounds complicated, and a bit daunting but I assure you it isn't, - Using Computers -, then print off the picture you've created.

Check to see the scale is right i.e. are the characters the same size? You should not have a huge frog next to a very small Tigger. Do the characters match the background? There were after all no dinosaurs in the desert.

Lastly do the pictures match well? If you are using singular images such as a kite, pooh on a balloon and a rainbow then are they evenly spaced?

Now look to see if the design will fill the space you want it to, if so then your half way there. Transferring the Design.

Check your colour scheme does it blend? If you are unsure of how to build a colour scheme the best way is to make yourself a template. Take squares of any fabrics you'd like to use and attach them to a board. Then add in pictures of the furniture, this doesn't have to be the exact furniture, so if it's pine then just cut out a picture of a pine bed. Take the main colours from your design and apply them to the board, now you will be able to see if the colours work together, if not, now's the time to make the necessary changes and you haven't spent a penny on the wrong bedcovers. Keep going until your happy.

Okay your half way there.

    
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