Sometimes you have to wonder why we do the things we do. I could have just bought Ian a big poster for his wall and been done with it. But nooooo…
Years ago I found an article online that talked about making a wall mural by using a paint-by-numbers kit transposed to wall size and painted with small pots of latex paint colour-matched at the paint store. I just went looking for the article, but couldn’t find it. There are many out there, though. It was an idea that stuck with me, and I considered it for the kids’ rooms in Sooke, but the Peanuts mural was a big success, and when it came to repainting the nursery for Miranda, she just wanted flowers.
Now, in Ian’s room there is a big, empty wall that seemed right for just such a mural. Tammy and I looked for a suitable way to decorate the wall, but when I found this paint by numbers ($7.99 at Amazon), it just seemed like my opportunity had come.
However, before I did anything more than remove a large screw from the wall and fill the hole (the previous owners’ tactic for leaving walls intact when leaving was to leave all of their anchors in), alternative ideas started to percolate. One was a problem with the wall and the composition of the paint by number: if I covered the wall with the picture, most of the detail is in the lower half, and much would be hidden behind Ian’s bed most of the time. The other was the suggestion made by Mom to do the work on a canvas instead of the wall: much easier to move or remove in the future.
In the end, I decided that was the right option. I found a 48″ x 36″ canvas at Michaels and brought it home. A little work with the scanner and I started drawing the pattern on the canvas using a grid. That was a week ago. I don’t know exactly how many hours it took, but it was a few. I worked a lot on it yesterday, and finished it tonight.
Painting will commence tomorrow.
Don’t tell anyone, but I am planning to use the finished painting as an underpainting, and then use my pastels on top to really personalize the painting. The acrylic paint will set tone and colour, then the pastel will be layered on top.
Unless I’m too tired to consider it when I’m done. We’ll see.
Love to see the finished product! For Zach’s room (if you remember the Sponge Bob pirate ship) I had a projector flash it up on the wall. Much easier but time consuming.
Yep, and we used said projector on the Peanuts wall (thanks again). For this, Tammy suggested picking up a projector, but I felt that transposing with the grid would be as quick and likely less subject to weird problems where the projector moved and I didn’t notice…
So now it’s done, and I am very happy with the result. I hope painting goes as well.
Don’t be foolish and overdo it with your back. Have fun.
Looking forward to seeing how you progress…Ian must be so excited!!!
Wow…that looks ambitious! How’s it coming?