Sharks in the Bedroom

Once again who doesn’t like the idea of painting on walls. Especially if you are a skilled painter. In a previous post I wrote about the mural I painted for my daughter. As mentioned, my son then had to have his room painted. Sharks are throughout his bedroom.

Paint Sharks???

Huh? How will I accomplish this task. A basic shark drawing is even difficult for me. As a result my first try was based on a stuffed animal shark that my son gave me. It resulted in a painting of a few whales instead of sharks. How am I going to accomplish this task? The task of sharks in the bedroom.

Solving the Problem…

I took to the internet with google image search. I pulled up the black tipped shark images and laid a printing paper on the touchable screen of my laptop. And Yes, I traced the sharks. Now of course these sharks were not big enough for the bedroom wall. Why did I trace them? I did it so I could get the basic outline. Having the outline made it easier to see proportion. Then I was able draw the outlines larger.

It worked…

When I was younger I use to trace other peoples stickers, coloring books, and more. Then I heard that tracing was bad. Today, I see value in tracing as a beginning artist. It helps with seeing connections/relationships between lines, space, and shape. Also there is a sense of confidence that builds. I remember tracing the My Little Ponies. Eventually I started to draw them on my own. I learned how to draw really nice hair from those illustrated pony tails. So there is something to it.

Painting

When it came to painting the sharks, it actually went rather smoothly. Unlike the whimsical owls for my daughter, I had to use more natural and blended colors. The process of blending the paint seemed to hurry the mural along, because the paint could not dry or it would not blend.

Now my son did paint on his sister’s wall, so the sister had to paint on her brother’s wall. Amazingly my son did not seem to want to help paint on his own wall. It is important to start with a primer on the wall within the shapes. In our old home, I painted a mural in the nursery without primer. The wall was blue and so the sun just would not be the bright yellow I saw in my head. No matter how many layers of yellow I painted on that wall, there was always a hint of green.

Practice, Primer, and Creativity

In conclusion, it is best to plan your drawing before hand. Use what is available to get it right. Tracing on the computer screen was a very helpful. Then redraw the tracing, so you are familiar with how to draw the image before going to the wall and enlarging the image. Next include your kids to paint the primer in the shapes. Primer dries quickly, so then you can move on to color in the same day. Direct the kids to paint the solid foundation colors. Then you can add the details on top of the foundation color. What a memorable moment you will share with your child(ren). They will be able to say that their parent allowed them paint on the wall.