I always learn something new when I do paint parties and mural projects so I wanted to share a few things that will help you on your next mural project!

1.  Always bring a level!  The GIANT eagle took me about 5 minutes to draw with white paint.   The writing… another story!    I used my vinyl stencils, but didn’t have the level yet.   Instead of waiting for the level… I measured from the floor using a meter stick and eyeballing it!   BIG mistake!   The words were just enough off to look like a drunk person did it… SO… painted over all the words and started again!

Since I was 5 hours from home and my trusty vinyl cutter, I rushed to Michaels before they closed and bought some letter stencils.   The next day with fresh eyes and a level, I went at it again.   This time tracing each stencil with chalk after carefully checking every word with a level.

End result was WAY better and lesson learned!  🙂

2.   Bring a cute helper!   Pixie was a huge help on this project!   She did everything from picking the vinyl to painting on the walls!    She did both of these below and I can’t tell you how much it helped!    Also, I hired 3 other helpers for one of the days to paint some of the larger stuff and do vinyl stenciling as well.     This saved tons of time.   On my next school mural project I will defiantly have a few more people in place earlier in the project.

3.  Bring music and your chargers so you can just listen and enjoy the process!

This project was so fun!   I literally turned up the music and felt like I was on a mini vacation!   Listening to music and painting is MY FAVORITE thing to do.  Calvin Nelms Charter Schools were really great about letting me add my artistic touch to the school.   They wanted positive messages and quotes all around, but allowed me to be creative which totally made the project a blast!   So this tip is about HAVING FUN!   Enjoy the process!   I mean…getting paid to PAINT… it’s MY favorite thing EVER!

4.  Turn mistakes into a NEW idea!

Tons of vinyl for all the stenciling made for a HUGE project for Pixie and I.  Mostly Pixie in this case.   However, we didn’t realize until we got to Houston that part of our vinyl didn’t cut.   The blade lasted over a year (which is amazing!), but I forgot to change it and check to see that it cut everything.

So… When it came time for the silhouettes we were out of luck!   Being the problem solver I am… I just cut around the vinyl to get the basic shape.   My initial thought was to just trace the silhouette on the wall in black paint.   Then as I was tapping the stencil up, I thought about how I could make the athletes look as if they were in action.   Playing around with the paint I did an outward brush motion and mixed the colors!   I loved the way it turned out and am so thankful for the problem!   It actually made the finished product better than I had in my head.

5.  Never EVER say no to a lift!

I’ve worked on many murals with MANY ladders and it has it’s challenges.   The hardest one being that when I’m on a ladder painting… I get into a zone… then sometimes I forget I’m on a LADDER!!!  (Yes, that can be scary!)

So…when a lift was at the school I planned ahead to make sure I could do the really tall areas while it was there!    Boy, did this REALLY help out!   It allowed me to feel really cool using a lift 🙂   AND it allowed for all my paints, etc. to be right beside me!   No ups and downs getting more paint!  And it was REALLY fun!

I hope your murals come out like you hope!   And if you do come up with issues during it…. it’s TOTALLY normal!   Get Creative and most importantly HAVE fun!!!!

Extremely Grateful,

Heidi

PS:  I’d like to thank all the Staff and Students at Calvin Nelms Charter Schools for allowing me to paint at their campus!    I hope you love the murals and messages for years to come!