baby's first

I'm currently on the road, in Denver specifically, taking some time away with my sweetie and using this time to help guide the choices i'll make for the next couple years.

Before i left ohio for this long stretch of road, i had a to-do list. Things like- scrap my car, create financial records doc for 2013, make a buncha pasta for 'thanks for hosting us' gifts, finalize my role in beehive meetings planning, get a few things in the mail, (etc) and... start/finish a mural for my aunt.

I can't say i got to everything on my list (like 'get ready to file taxes' that part... not so much), but i did make a mural. My very first one. baby's first mural. awwww.

step 1: smooth out the wall using a mortar finish.
lesson number one: i wouldn't do this again, at least not on a wall that was smooth-ish. took a lot of time, is fairly expensive, and i feel confident i didn't do it well. whomp.

step 2: prime it!

step 3: project it on the wall (i made a rough outline using photoshop)

{thanks for the photo mattie}

step 4: paint the base colors! 

{mattie helped me do a bunch of work on the mural- we spent a good chunk of a day working on it together.}

lesson number two: find someone really delightful to spend time with and ask them to help! murals can actually be kinda boring- and take a long time (this one, which is pretty basic, took over 30 hours of work). in lieu of that, bring some music, radio stories, speeches, and interviews for the listening to.

step 5: paint in the big details 

lesson number three: choose your paint colors strategically and really plan it out before you start painting. i was using a lot of old paint, so that largely dictated the color schemes, but i wish i planned the greens better. it turned out fine but took a lot of re-paining and color mixing

step 6: project or sketch on the details (or, in this case, some combo of both) 

step 7: paint 'em in!

lesson number four: buy nice paint brushes. the cheap ones make it really hard to do detail work. so hard that i may go back and paint over some things (like the bees) and re-paint them with a better tool. Plus, cheap brushes loose their hairs and they get stuck in your paint. plus! its just not worth it. get decent brushes.

step 8: clean up the room, and take a photo! 

{ta-da! the finished mural. like i said, i may edit it later... but... its mostly finished. finished for now at the least}

lesson number five: if you want to incorporate chalk paint into your mural, because that would be super rad, then you really do need a smooth surface to begin with. Not a 'more smooth than it was' or a 'sorta smooth' or even a 'more or less smooth' surface. a smooth one. Chalk just doesn't wipe off easily if its all bumpy. Which is why i used a stark black in this mural for the sky, river, and tree hole- so kids could chalk on it. I think I'll repaint the river. You can see the quick fish i drew on, and then tried to rub off- it didn't work. poop!

not a lesson, but a cool tip: don't buy chalk paint. its expensive and... expensive. you can make it yourself! (1 gal of matte finish paint: 1 c concrete mix. bam! chalkboard paint!) i know it didn't work out this time, but i've seen it work our great in other places

{i think the bear may be the best part. i feel pretty proud of her. and yes, i did fix that drip i just didn't take a photo of it after}

yup, i made a mural!