There seems to be a growing trend towards people decorating large wall spaces converting what artist/muralist Ray Gatica calls, “nothing wall space” into something colorful, artistic and visually interesting. “The days of the vast blank walls are over,” says Gatica, “options include faux painting techniques; prefabricated murals installed or, having a custom mural hand-painted by a commissioned artist.
Gatica has over fifteen years experience creating murals and large architectural graphics for a number of commercial and residential clients. He’s experienced in working with Interior Designers, Architects, painting companies and project managers, etc.
Gatica believes everyone has a fantasy mural they would like to have in their home or business. Murals can be fun, exciting, larger than life fantasies that can be realized by the following options. Either way, having a mural in your home can be great fun! A mural can enhance your decor in a large way and are excellent conversation pieces. Murals can be designed to be inspirational tranquil, pastoral and soothing, sheik, stimulating and provocative, avant-garde - all the way to bold and abstract. “Ultimately, the mural should reflect your personality, and make a statement about you”, says Gatica.
In this article, he will touch on various options available to decorate large wall spaces economically and effectively. Options include Prefabricated Murals, Photomurals, and where to find them. We will also touch on the option of Faux and Decorative painting (even though not mural work, it’s a good option for converting empty wall space into something colorful and exciting). And, lastly, but not least, we’ll talk about having a custom – hand painted mural created by a commissioned muralist/artist, and how to find and select an artist to work with you - if you go this route.
He intends to provide a few helpful tips and advice, on how to make the realization of your fantasy mural a fun experience. Along with outlining the above options, he will advise on things a potential client can do to keep the price of a mural down to a minimum along with tips on to how to communicate your ideas to the artist, for a fun, rewarding and mutually satisfying experience for both the client and artist.
Prefabricated Murals
First, because prefabricated murals are mass-produced, and are easily found in wall covering stores, larger department and home stores they are lesser expensive option. These pre-printed murals come in assorted standard sizes and themes. The quality and selection has improved over the years. The variety of themes include baseball fields, sports themes, science fiction; mythical, fantasy art; New York and Chicago city skylines and, lush floral gardens; and rain forest, and green forests scenes, etc.
With this option, clients usually have to mount the mural themselves or have a professional installer do it for them. And, depending on the overall size, the mural there can be more than one section to put up. The prices for these murals vary from around three - seven dollars per square-foot. Usually this does not include installation; inquire with the retailer about the installation. However, a consumer with the ability to install or hang wallpaper or paint a room should have what it takes to hang one of these murals. If help or installation is needed, a wallpaper hanger can help. You can find them in the painting and wall hanging section of your phone book.
Photomurals
Secondly, there is the photomural option, where one can take a favorite photo to a large format printer. They will scan the photo, enlarge the photo and magically, print it out on a large format printer. Depending on the desired size, the client may have to paste a few sections together to complete a large mural. When going with this option, be aware that the quality of the final product depends on the original photo’s quality (Photos should be cleaned and focused prior to having them scanned and printed for the best quality in the final print). Also keep in mind, depending on the printer’s output, resolution and quality, there might be a stark, visible dot pattern on the final product. Make sure you can live with that before ordering the print. I advise, to avoid any problems, ask the printer to print a small section as a sample to approve before proceeding further. The client can then install the mural or have an installer do it for them same as with the prefabricated murals, above.
Faux and Decorative Painting
Even though not murals, this is another economical option. It’s a nice way of covering large areas economically and effectively. You can find painters that do this type of work by calling local painting companies and inquiring with them. For brave clients with a creative streak and a good handle on color, Gatica, says - they might want to tackle something like this and have fun while doing it themselves. Or you can find an artist adept in doing this type of work. The same tips apply in finding someone to do this, as preparing for a mural, below.
