Step 1.  Find or sketch the picture(s) you would like on your wall and trace it onto a transparency sheet.  Use a simple drawing without too much detail for your first mural.  Fish with a wave background, birds and clouds, or a picket fence with flowers and butterflies are great themes to start with.

 

Step 2.  First, paint the background of your mural.  This should be done on a freshly cleaned or painted surface.  If you are using clouds or waves as the background, you can do this free hand, as there is no exact science to painting these objects.  Alternatively, you can paint the background a solid color to “suggest” the background for example; you can paint the background green for grass or blue for the sky.  Allow the background to dry.

 

Step 3.  Using a transparency projector, project the picture or objects from the picture onto the wall, and adjust until it is the right size. Your first mural should not be larger than 4 X 5 feet so that it will not be overwhelming.  A simple mural of this size should take no longer than 5 hours.  You can borrow a projector from a local rental store, or library, or you can purchase an inexpensive one from a business supply store.

 

Step 4.  Trace image on wall with pencil.

 

Step 5.  Paint the mural on the wall one color at a time like you would paint a color by number painting.  Try to imagine the picture to be a series of shapes and concentrate on painting one shape at a time.

 

Step 6.  Add shadows to the mural and highlights to the mural by deciding what direction the “light” is coming from in the mural and painting highlights on the close side and shadows on the dark side ( this part can be skipped if you are uncomfortable) To create the highlight use a very pale shade of the color of the object.  To create a shadow, use a darker shade of the object's color. 

 

Step 7.  Outline the images with a thin paintbrush and black paint or a permanent marker.  (If you use a permanent marker, you will want to use a primer sealer when you decide to paint over the mural)

 

Your mural is now complete.  The result will be a crisp clean mural with that is neat and refreshing.  These are great for children’s rooms because a great deal of detail is not necessary for it to be enjoyable.  A mural painted by a professional would be a bit more detailed while showing depth and a bigger variation of colors.