My First Mural

4/20/2018

I have learned in the last few years that public art can really impact a community. In the last few years, Downtown Melbourne and surrounding communities have been adding some eye catching public art to the city scape. It has been an amazing transformation.

We are fortunate that the City of Melbourne and Melbourne Main Street have vision enough to support the programs that have given us the opportunity to have that awesome eye candy to see everyday.

Who wouldn't want to be a part of that positive movement. I was fortunate to be hired to do a mural on the side of Nahacky's Aquarium store in Downtown Melbourne on US1. I've never done one before, but thought a 5 ft by 10 ft wouldn't be too overwhelming.

Preparing
I spent 3 years as an industrial artist, so I knew what to expect to prepare and protect the space, what supplies I would need to do the job properly, the amount of paints for each color, etc. I ordered a quart of the bright colors and a gallon of the background color and black and white, but could've gotten away with quarts of those as well.

Supplies I needed:
Dropcloths to protect area
Rubber Mallet
Paint opener
Tape
Garbage Bags
Buckets/containers for paint
rags/paper towels
Paint
Brushes
Paint mixers
Ladder

I was working out of my pretty car, so I wanted to keep everything protected. I know what happens when you don't. So getting the right supplies makes a huge difference.

The opener and rubber mallet are a necessity. Those keep the paints completely closed and safe from spilling. I also keep the paint cans within boxes themselves, to keep them from spilling over.

Day 1: 2 1/2 hours
Day 1 was all about the background. My intention was to put the background colors in and grid it to ensure everything was in proportion, but I said screw it and I figured I would wing the shapes. No grids. I thought it would take longer and since I drew them to begin with! If it were larger, I probably would've had to, but this is only 5'x10'. pictures to the right

Day 2: 2.5 hours
Day 2 was spacing everything and adding some detail. The white makes it look terrible, but I wanted to see where I was going to ultimately put the the sea life. I started with the background school of fish. I figured I would use up a whole day if I had to paint them individually, so I made a vinyl template from my painting, they went up in 5 minutes. I added some sand color and rocks to the sea bottom and also put in the giant clam. pictures to the right

Day 3: 3 hours
Day 3 was about that coral and putting in some fish shapes. I also went over the school with a wash to send them further into the background. It definitely looks better as I add more detail.

Day 4: 3 hours
More fish shapes, a star fish, and a sea horse. And that new brush. I love buying new art supplies. My hubby got a few of me painting. Day 4 gallery to the right
Day 5: 5 hours
I wanted to get the details on the clown fish to give them a little personality. I also gave the yellow fish dimension and will add the eyes and other details tomorrow.

Day 6: 2.5 hours
It didn't feel like I got much done today. I put in a rock, painted the base of a coral and put the final on the clam. It needed more detail.

Day 7: 2.5 hours
It felt like I got A LOT done today. The right side is almost done. Put in the grass and will put in the tendrils on the anemones tomorrow. It s getting closer to the finish line.

Day 8: 1.5 hours
More coral rock and grass! The left side is finally making progress.

Day 9: 1.5 hours
Everything but the cleaner shrimp and clear coat.

Day 10: 2 hours
Cleaner shrimp! And I added a crabby conch.

Day 11: 1 hour
Clear Coat

All Done!
I'm happy with the outcome and hope to do more int he future. Painting big is pretty nice. What I noticed is that it is definitely more forgiving. You have more space to work out the shapes and values. Video and detail below