Tips For Painting Childrens Murals

My favorite murals to paint were always the ones for children.  Whether you desire to create a mural for your own child, or would like to do this as a career, there are a few tips included in this blog to help get you started. Think about it... don't you wish someone had painted a mural in your room when you were young?

I loved the excitement a child would show about the unique artwork that was created just for their room.  That is why I always included the child in my design questions when planning a mural for a children's room.  If you are painting a mural for your own child you can certainly do this in your early planning stages and bounce around some ideas together.  When you are planning professional murals it may depend on the client situation during your first meeting. Some people have a very difficult time visualizing anything and getting the child involved at this point confuses the parent even more.  You have to feel out the situation, but when possible ask the child's opinion.  

The age of a child can range from a baby to a teenager, so of course you would have a difficult time getting an infants opinion. haha! Most times the mother and the interior designer, often have a basic idea of what they want in the room.  Many clients relied on my portfolio of past work for inspiration.  Having a full portfolio of examples or bringing reference materials is very helpful.  Do not leave your books overnight with the client unless you absolutely know you will be coming back to that home!  I had to replace a few great reference books because of trusting new clients at first meetings. 
I always treated the portfolio of my faux and mural artwork photos like gold! Only the inner sanctum of the designer I worked with ever got to keep that baby overnight!

To get good reference materials and ideas: The children's library is a fantastic place to find large picture books for inspiration. The newsstand section of a store like Barnes and Noble carries many interior design magazines that feature children's rooms and murals.  Any kind of art or design trade publication can be an inspiration. If you are going to do this as a career you must invest in all kinds of reference books on many kinds of subjects. Collect animal, architecture, nature, sports, and fairytale books. Get picture books like "The DK Children's Illustrated Dictionaries." Purchase books specific to showing mural examples which usually have how-to information in them as well. It is always best to have the theme around something the child has a passion about because they will live with this artwork for many years.

Once the subject matter and the style has been determined for the mural then you can proceed with the very important step of 'prepping the room.'  I always allowed a day just for purchasing supplies, taping out the room with the beautiful blue or green painters tape, removing items from the wall, repairing any holes, setting out the tarps and moving furniture. This way I could come in fresh the next day to begin painting and creating. Also be sure to ask the client where your clean up area will be.  Sometimes they have a sink in the basement, and other times you have to bring your bucket of brush mess home sloshing in the car. Before I left each night, especially when there are children in the home, I cleaned up my work area very carefully. Water buckets are emptied, paint cans are closed tightly, paint and glaze tins are covered with aluminum foil. Then I would cover the entire area with a folded tarp to hide the contents from little eyes.  Leave no temptations behind.

 
When I began painting the walls in a child's room I found the children were usually curious, liked to watch for awhile and ask many questions.  That is a perfect time to find out what you can add into the mural to make it extra personal, and make them feel like they had input into the design. This could be as simple as the addition of their favorite bug, animal, their pet, putting their name on a banner or a locker door. Every situation is different.

As an artist I usually free-handed everything I painted right on the spot. I rarely did detailed sketches as it was all in my head, and I made sure I did a good job describing what I would do to my clients. If you are not so comfortable painting in that way you can prepare a preliminary drawing and then do a pencil sketch on the wall first.  If you cannot draw at all you will need to get an overhead projector that will place your design on the wall for you to outline first.

If this is your first time painting on a wall pick a smaller sized mural and a simple design.  Use small cans of water based house paint.  Benjamin Moore is my favorite brand because it is so thick and creamy.  They also have a glazing liquid to make your paint transparent when needed. Some people only use the small plastic squirt bottles of craft paint when doing a smaller mural. You can squirt the paint into small containers like those plastic cups you get to put ketchup in at fast food restaurants. Remember most importantly it is all just paint, so do not be afraid of it!  If you do not like what you painted the first time.  Lightly sand any thick edges you made, paint over it with your wall paint, and just start again. 

 
Be sure to have a nice supply of good brushes and a bucket of water to start.  Keep rags and paper towels handy for any drips.  Buy a few sizes of real artist acrylic "filbert" style brushes from the art store, along with any detail brushes you may need.  I used a plastic tool box with the handle in the middle to carry my brush collection.  On one side was the brushes and the other side was various tools such as knives, scissors,tapes, rulers, measuring tape, laser levels, pencils, kneaded erasers, paint can opener, chalk, etc. You can tape any reference photos or tear sheets right up on the wall with painters tape, and move them around as you go. Have all the reference pages in books already tabbed and notated so you can find your place easily.

A child's room is a place for their imagination, their dreams, and a place to have fun! Be expressive in your painting! Be colorful! You can even paint on top of a stool or over the closet doors as I did for a sports locker room look. Also don't forget that special effects paints are perfect for children's rooms. You could use chalkboard paint for the area under the chair-rail, put day glow paint on the moon and stars so they shine in the night, and use glitter paint to make a castle and fairy sparkle! Now turn on some music and start painting!

 

To see more examples of my past children's mural work in homes, commercial settings and volunteer work, go to my Gallery Portfolio at Crystal Visions Art.