Mural Making Process

This section shows how I painted a large mural (about 300 linear feet of canvas) for a private residence on Vashon Island. The project was very detailed. It took me nine months of actual painting after the canvas was cut for each panel and painted with a base coat airbrushed gradation of seven values of purple-black for each panel. I painted my images 4-ft across, 2-ft up, and another 4-ft across every night.

My studio is small at only 20x10-ft. To accommodate working in this small space, my partner, Phil, put together three 8x4-ft MDF panels that slanted slightly toward the roof and set the board so they occupied about a quarter of my floor space with a three-inch high platform running along the back where he built shelving and slots for me to store canvases and supplies. This was already in place before I got the Vashon project.

Another option, which Phil did for me when I was painting in a rental apartment, was to attach these same boards together at the back with wing nuts and 2x4-in boards for a temporary board. When I moved to my own home, we brought the same boards over to make a permanent installation, after he poured the concrete flooring and lifted the ceiling on my little garage to make my studio. I did many 8x12-ft and longer murals (just rolled up the finished section on the right for the longer ones) for Tommy Bahama and about eight different commercial and private projects on these boards.

I loved this project, and also my client, and she was very happy with my work. She is a designer and knew that once the parameters were established — color, subject, theme, and detailed drawings — that she would get my best work if she didn’t micromanage me. I don’t do well with clients breathing down my neck!