Wall Mural I finished before the 4th!

damn that looks incredible
shame my talent sucks when it comes to this sort skills.

Gazrok, you and your wife did good. Ya got talent.

Roper

GAZROK You are hired sir. Ok now what i want is, i have a 5m x 5m babies room. Currently in soft pink. Ok i have the plans here that you can start building on... OK i will rather U2U them to you

DAMN good job in that room. I am awe struck!!

Gazrok, lol wow, dude I love the mural, its so vibrant and filled with life, man I wish I had you growing up to paint me like a power rangers/ ninja turtles/ transformers/ and batman mural...

So, me being a painter in training...practice, I was wondering so would you normally draw the fore images, before coloring the background, or vice versa, because in your first post you said:

My wife is becoming an artist in her own right...she paints the background colors after I draw in the images. Then, I go back in with shading and detail....

I don't know, I just figured I can learn a thing or two from you, considering how amazing that mural was, I mean I attempted painting once, and well failed miserably.

Good question...(long answers)

It depends on the image, but if there's an overriding color (or two colors), then that's painted first.

For example, for this room, I just sketched the reef base shapes, we painted the dark and light blue first, and we painted the base color of the coral reefs (which was an off-looking brown, but they had faith, and it worked).

Then, while she was painting the reef base color, and sand base color, I was sketching the characters with a white crayon. These sketches were almost like a coloring book in appearance. For the dolphins and the manatee, I just sketched the base shapes.

While she painted the base colors of the drawn in characters, I then painted the base shapes of the various coral. At this point, they resembled just blobs of color. I'd alternate between painting some of the character detail, and then using different techniques on the various coral. For example, for the brain coral balls, I'd start with a base oval of a dark color, like red. Then, starting at the top, I'd make little circles of a lighter color, like orange or pink. This would continue to about 2/3 to the bottom, and then it would blend in. After, I'd go back with a lighter color (yellow if orange, white if pink), and put a highlight on the top of the coral. It's pretty easy, and gave a nice effect. I'd show her how to do the coral effects, and then she did that while I went back in and outlined the characters, or painted freehand details.

The pirate ships were completely freehanded paint with a brush and only light blue paint, I sketched with the paint as I drew/painted them in.

While I could have used a lot more colors, hues, etc., it would have taken even more time. I find that as long as you have 3 different shades of a color (dark, lighter, really light or white), it's enough to make something look very 3 dimensional and pleasing. Of course, for characters, usually only 2 shades are needed (one for shadow).

For the large color areas, we used satin interior paint (I'd recommend either satin or semi-gloss, if you don't mind the shine, so you can clean them). For the variety of colors, I usually just use the tube acrylics you can get in craft stores, for about $1-$2 a tube. Some use the fancier tubes, but the inexpensive ones work and last just fine. My first mural is a couple years old now, and it looks just as good as the day I finished it. I then spray a fixitive on it, just in case.

Gaz - That's bloody awesome!
The attention to detail - even the light reflections on the dolphins backs.

All I can say is WOW!

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks!

Looking back (and at other dolphin pics), the criss-crosses of light on the dolphins should have been more wavy, and less-linear...but ehh....my first dolphins, so room to improve...

I've got some future ones in the works...a woodland fairy theme for the bathroom of my house, and a castle interior for the bedroom, and a Japanese house with windows theme for the spare room....

My mother wants a pastel rose garden scene in her bathroom, and I've got a few potential customers for other murals, as I start up the side business.

Won't be much time around the holidays, but during a holiday break, I hope to do at least one of the above projects, if not more than one.