DIY Contemporary Murals
Expansive Tuscan vistas gilded with golden sunlight. Lush English cottage gardens viewed through a charmingly rusted gate. Stately arched stone doorways and shuttered country windows. All of these scenes commonly inspire expensive, intricate, handpainted murals that adorn walls in homes and lobbies around the world. A mural doesn't have to be complicated or expensive in order to impress, however. Add a personalized "wow" factor to your home by creating your own mural with simple, bold graphics and clean lines for a cost-effective, contemporary look. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Overhead projector
- Transparency sheets
- Marker
- Paint
- Paint roller
- Artist's brush
- Painter's tape
- Sculptural object
Instructions
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Solitary Tree Branch
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Paint the wall a medium green hue, either a cool grass-green or a yellow-green for a bold look. For a fresh, bright contemporary mural, use a lighter green like sage or seafoam. Allow the paint to dry.
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Draw a tree branch freehand, starting in either of the lower corners of the wall and branching out diagonally across the wall to the opposite top corner. Sketch in smaller limbs growing from the branch. If you're not comfortable freehanding, trace an image of a tree branch onto a sheet of transparency paper, using a marker, or print the image; place the sheet onto the projector and adjust the projected image to suit your taste. Trace the image onto the wall.
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Paint the tree branch in a brown of the same tone and intensity as the green on the wall; if you use a light green, use a light tan for the branch.
Ethereal Forest
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Paint the wall a soft gray, green or blue.
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Sketch or trace the outline of a tall, skinny birch tree trunk. Repeat the tree across the wall, leaning some trees to one side or the other to add variety. If needed, find an image of a birch tree and trace it onto a transparency sheet; then enlarge it using an overhead projector.
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Create the effect of an ethereally silhouetted forest by painting the tree trunks in an almost-white gray several shades lighter than the wall color. If you prefer a weightier look, paint the trunks a shade or two darker than the wall color.
Framed Silhouette
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Outline a "frame" on the wall using painter's tape. To center the frame on the wall, measure to the middle of the wall and make a mark. Measure out the same distance on either side of the center mark -- for instance, 1 ½ feet -- and make a mark on each side. Measure up and down from the center mark the same distance -- 1 foot, for example -- and mark each edge. Use a level to draw straight lines, and place the tape on the outside edge of the pencil line. Double the width of the tape for a wider "frame."
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Paint the wall a base color of your choice.
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Recruit your child, spouse or a friend to sit on a stool or stand in front of the wall; or set up a sculptural object like an urn, potted palm, bold-lined statue or other simple, graphically shaped object on a stool, ladder or table. Shine a bright lamp on the person or object, adjusting the position of the subject as needed to fit into the frame.
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Trace the outline of the silhouette onto the wall, keeping inside the tape frame.
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Paint the silhouette in black, dark brown or a darker shade of your wall color. Alternatively, paint the silhouette white or a lighter hue of the wall color. Peel the tape from the wall, carefully, to reveal the white edge of the "frame" for your silhouette.
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Tips & Warnings
If you're using an overhead projector -- which can be rented from your local rental shop or even a library -- mark the position of the projector on the floor and on the table or cart using masking tape, in case you need to move it mid-mural.
Achieve the cleanest lines for your mural's subject by loading up your brush with paint. Use the roller for big areas of color and an artist's brush for smaller areas.
To create the most contemporary look, limit your total color choice to two or three contrasting hues. For example, paint the base coat for your mural in a rich plum purple, and select a medium gray tone and a dark charcoal hue for the mural itself. For the simplest, most calming look, stick to several variations of the same color.
Look around your space for inspiration -- whether for color ideas or for the subject of the mural. Anything with bold, simple lines would translate well into a mural. Avoid complicated or intricate images that require lots of color and detail work to reproduce. Simply drawn, natural objects create impact and inject freshness into your contemporary decor.
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
