Mural Painting

The first class I chose was mural painting, the course is really open to interpretation in terms of what u want to create, the class is more about learning the techniques rather than what we paint. We were put into groups of 2 to 4 people depending on the size of the wall, the wall we chose is really interesting as it is a large (maybe 3.5m tall by 2.5m wide) concave archway similar to what you might find in the walls of an old cathedral or church. We chose the wall due to its curiosity and the connotations that come with it. The mural painting studio has two levels with really high ceilings and different sized and shaped walls for interesting murals, there are also a number of designated walls around the college that you can apply to use as well. The first few lessons were covering different materials we need and protective clothing, then we looked at the types of plaster used for fresco murals, and then got told to collaborate on some designs.

The first lesson when we got down to work involved removing last year’s mural from the wall. This was a messy job with twenty other people in the studio at the same time the room was a cloud of dust. We were required to by face masks with breathing filters, goggles, and gloves. For the entire three hour lesson we had to chip away at the old plaster work with a pick-axe until just the bare brick was remaining.

The next stage is to re-apply the plaster (or Cal) to get the wall smooth and level. after the wall is smooth, we need to draw a scale drawing, in a scale of 1:10. then create a grid over the drawing, so we can tranfer it onto a sheet of paper the same size as the wall. when we have the drawing to the size of the wall, we pin it up onto the wall. to transfer this image onto the wall behind, you take a sharp point of pencil and stab holes along the lines of the drawing. this allows us to take the pigment and dab it over the lines, tranfering the image exactly onto the wall behind.

when the drawing is mapped out on the wall, we have to mix another batch of plaster, and fill in small sections of the drawing one at a time. the pigment has to be applied to wet plaster to ensure a rich colour and that stays on the wall.