The Meaning of Painting and Clients for Me

Some days as an entrepreneur, decorative painter, it's tough. Making sure you have enough jobs in the pipeline, keeping up with e-mails and follow-ups. But it's the times when even 'mundane' straight painting can bring such joy to a client, give your purpose and all the 'tough' days disappear.

Back Entrance Way Floral Mural

I'm now realizing for the second time that every project I do, and every color I use ends up being my favorite. With that being said, lets take a peek at my new favorite mural project of the week.

Every project has an exciting story behind it. The addition/renovation of this house was about 2 years ago, and ever since then, the homeowners have always talked about placing a mural within this space, since the walkway really doesn't allow for pictures to be hung. Well they got their wish about having a mural! The best part, is they have no idea. Lets see how long it'll take them to figure out it's there! I'm not good at surprises, and lets hope they're not following my twitter updates or blog.

Back Entrance Way: Before Mural

Being from Georgia, this house has the look and feel to be found on the pages of Southern Living. I knew that this mural couldn't be just ANYthing, but had to have a sophisticated look and feel, like something you would find in Southern Living.

My inspiration came from hand painted Chinese silk paintings, and kept with muted colors and some hints of saturated color here and there. Taking hints from the way homeowners decorate is a huge key an help when you are deciding how to design your mural. This homeowner likes to use muted wall colors, and accessorize with pops of color, and that's where my color decision came from. I also decided to do this mural in Oil paint.

Back Entrance Way: After Mural

Floral oil Painting for Sale

That's right... I started an E-bay account today, to help fund the trip to Worlds for Michael Schiavone's on the US National Team to Australia. It's actually very big, measuring 36x48. It's the first in the series that I've been doing. Part of me really wanted to just try E-bay to see if it works, and then if it does, to raise money for Michel's trip...
Michael Schiavone's Story for Worlds

E-bay Link to BID!

Helping Clients Better Visualize a Mural Project

We all know that murals can be quite the investment, and clients should have a great understanding of what you're going to create for them before they sign on the dotted line. This not only protects the artist, but also the client since both parties knows what's going to be delivered.

I've found that taking an actual picture of the room or wall, then placing the sketches within the photo and using past projects can be a great visualization for the client, and it's fun too! It's a sneak peak to what can happen and the beginning to a master piece!

Here's a sample sketch for a chalkboard wall with slated stones and wood for a small engine shop... I'm already excited, and it's only a quick sketch!

Your goal is to generalize the feel for the mural. Since these are inicial sketches, let your client then determine what direction they want to go in.