Archive for the ‘murals’ Category
Finished reading nook…..
Awhile ago, I posted photos of my latest mural being finished…but the area wasn’t completely finished…..I still had to make new seat cushions. I wasn’t sure which fabric I wanted to use…so it took me awhile to decide. I needed a fabric that could take a beating…..3 children, 2 dogs and 5 cats! I decided to go with a thick corduroy in green. I love the color and I think it goes well with all the other crazy colors in our living room!
Yesterday I finally got around to sewing up the covers! The kids instantly loved them and wanted to sit in the “nook” and read and rest! Now, I just need to make some pillow covers! Maybe next week……
In: Decorating, house fixing, miscellaneous, murals, sewing
Go Dog Go Murals…..
I’ve gotten a few requests asking for more photos of the Go Dog Go mural I did in River’s room. Each mural is approximately 5 feet by 4 feet. I did them with acrylic paints.
Another mural finished……
It has been so hot around here..that I have had lots of time to paint..inside. So, I finally finished the latest mural I had been working on…..from the book Excuse Me…Are You a Witch? by Emily Horn. It was a fun and quick mural. I have to put some type of polyurethane coating over it to protect it a bit…it is below windows, so the cats are constantly jumping up and scratching it. I am not sure what type of protective layer to put on it…I will be figuring that out soon.
Now, I am in the process of redoing the cushions on the window seat. Our old cushions for the seat have long ago died. We had an old pillowtop mattress and it became completely uncomfortable….so I cut it off! And I am using that for the new cushions. I am in the process of picking out some new material…and then I need to make two slip covers! Something I haven’t done before!
Painting a Mural…..
My latest mural is coming along quickly. It is so much smaller than the other one…..I can do just a bit of work and it makes a difference (have I said that before?)! Did you ever want to paint a mural on one of your walls, but thought you couldn’t do it? Well, you should just go for it! I start out by thinking about which wall I would like to paint..maybe start off small..in a bathroom or somewhere like that. Then, I think about what I would like to paint. Usually, I find a picture in a children’s book or magazine….there are so many incredible images!
Then, I scan the image and load it onto my computer. I have a Panasonic LCD Projector that I use…but you don’t have to use one of those…you could use a simple projector..I have one of those too…a Design Master Projector, which works great. The only difference is that I can use the Panasonic LCD projector in the daytime..I don’t have to wait until it is dark outside, which I have to do with the Design Master projector.
Then, I set up the projector and my laptop and position the picture. And I draw out the design using a pencil…very lightly. This sets your mural up so that you are ready to paint.
Then you get started on the painting, which I think is the fun part…seeing the mural come to life! Sometimes your pencil lines disappear when you paint, but they are meant as guide lines only. When I am finished painting, I usually outline everything using black paint, or my new best friend….a Sharpie paint pen!! These things are my new best friend!
I’ll keep you posted with my progress on this mural!
Also, don’t forget to enter my latest giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m giving away a $25.00 gift certificate to my Etsy shop!!!
In: drawing, murals, painting
Small transformations…..
River had her old crib still in her room….I had changed it into a day bed….it was mostly a stuffed animal bed! I had been contemplating taking it down for awhile. …but couldn’t figure out if I wanted to or not….then I saw that ALL Simplicity cribs had been recalled, all makes and all models….and we had a Simplicity crib….it said that all cribs should be returned to the store where you purchased it…..so that made the decision easy for me! She loves dress up and we needed a place to put all her dress up stuff….so we dragged an old chest out of the basement…..
And of course it needed a coat of paint! And of course River had to help paint it!
Which of course, made things a bit more interesting…she wanted it painted then and there…and was very upset we didn’t have any pink paint…she had to settle for baby blue. I promised her that during the summer we would paint a beautiful pink design over the baby blue…..
By today, the chest was dry…so we took down the crib and moved in the chest….of course, we had to rearrange a few other things…and read some books in between and play with Barbies here and there…and get out all the stuffed animals….vacuum out the cobwebs……you know how it is…..
But finally things were all back together…and River seemed pretty happy with her room…..
In: Decorating, River, murals, painting
Excuse Me..Are You a Witch Mural….continues…
I’m slowly making progress on the new mural. It is nice to be doing a smaller mural. I can see the progress much faster…….not that I’m progressing that much faster..but even when I do something small, it seems like more.
The problem with this area is that it belongs to the dogs, literallly. It is the only spot in the house where they like to sleep. They aren’t allowed on any furniture, so this is their way of thinking they are on the furniture. So, while I am painting, I have to shoo them away. Then, when I am done, I have to put something on the window seat, to keep them away, until it is dry!
After the mural is finished, I need to get new cushions and sew new covers and pillows!
In: Creations, drawing, murals, painting
Still sketching….
So, I am still sketching for my new mural. It is in our living room, in the reading nook. The sketch is a bit hard to see in the photograph…..The drawing is from the book “Excuse Me….Are You a Witch?” by Emily Horn and illustrated by Pawel Pawlak. It is an adorable book. The picture features the main character, Herbert, in the library….!
To be continued when I actually start the painting…….
Sneak peek….a new mural begins….
I know it isn’t much to look at yet…but I started a new mural…hopefully I’ll get all the drawing part done today……more pictures to come….
Starry Night officially completed…at least for now….
No, I really am declaring it done…really. At least for now. I have to…it has taken me about a year and a half to complete it. Some months I didn’t work on it at all…and others I seemed to never stop.
I always loved the book ‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey. It has been one of my favorites, especially since we are vegetarians. I loved this particular drawing and I always thought it would look great on a wall..a big wall….so, I looked at our stairway going up…and figured it was the best wall. And I had been wondering how to paint this wall. It had been unpainted since we moved in four years ago. I never painted such a large mural before. First I decided on a base color and painted the entire wall that color. Then I started with the tree…I don’t know why, I just wanted it to be the central item. I figured this drawing was inspired by Starry Night and I love that particular painting..so it just evolved into my own interpretation of The Starry Night.
It took a bit longer than I anticipated, but that was my own doing. It was a lot of fun to watch it progress. I took a million photos of each stage..sometime I need to put them all together in a little montage or something…
Now, I need to get onto the next mural project…. something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time in our living room.
I will keep you posted on the progress of the next mural……
Still painting Starry Night…..
Yes, I am still painting the Starry Night mural…but it is coming to an end…if that is possible…not sure when an artist every considers something “finished.” I’m not sure if the painting looks any different from the last time I posted pictures. I’m working on the texture of the mountains and the starry night areas. I am also working on the outlining. My new goal is to be done this mural by the end of the month. I have so many other things I want to get started, but I must finish this first!
