Seascape Mural in Mt. Pleasant
Back in April, the Town of Mount Pleasant contacted me regarding a summer mural project. They were looking for an ocean inspired mural to adorn a 5’ x 115’ wall on the exterior of their recreation facility. After such a wonderful experience painting the exterior of Julia Deckman’s Studio, I knew that I couldn’t pass on the opportunity.
Photo by Kate Blohm
When I came up with the sketch, my goal was to highlight some Charleston’s favorite nautical friends. From dolphins, sea turtles to crabs it was a a true joy coming up with this whimsical concept. Below is my initial proposal sketch for the exterior wall at the R. L. Jones Center in the Town of Mount Pleasant.
Here, you can see the wall on the left hand side of the images. It faces the indoor pool! It is the perfect spot to liven up and otherwise simple space. I knew once I saw long, panoramic format of the wall that the image would need to be duplicated to create the feeling of a pattern.
Alright, let’s go!
The preparations for a mural are JUST as important as executing the final piece. My list making self loves this part of the process. Here is a link to my mural checklist if you’re at all curious about what needs to be gathered beforehand. For aspiring muralists, it was helpful to reference Hom Sweet Hom and Pandr Design before starting as well.
I essentially broke down the process into these steps:
Create mural sketch for approval by client
Gather paint and materials
Transfer the illustration to the wall
Fill in the details with first blocked out layers of color
The fun part, layers and details!
My biggest takeaways from this project were:
Mural painting isn’t for the weak hearted. It is exhausting both mentally and physically. Of course each day was better as time went on, but it was certainly something to make note of for future reference. Maybe this will kick my butt back into gear for a more consistent work out routine who knows?!
We don’t have as much control of time as we think. Unpredictable weather was a constant challenge with this project. Summer rainstorms in Charleston are frequent and arrive with a vengeance. Fortunately the storms I experienced on my painting days were brief and I embraced the time to stretch and hydrate.
Embrace the pivot. I’d planned to transfer my original illustration with a projector in order to speed up the process. Being a projector n00b I failed to realize that it would not work in the circumstance of full sunlight…. which there was. Rather than throw myself a pity party, I hand drew the entire mural. In the end, I think that made more of a narrative in the piece and created a stronger final image in the end.
Thank for tuning in. I look forward to sharing the behind the scenes of upcoming projects with you!