I’ve mentioned my 5-year-old niece to you guys plenty of times before. She’s the baby of the family, but we’re all learning fast just how quickly she’s growing up. It’s been especially clear to me over the last year or so, as she has been gradually becoming more insistent that she has outgrown the “baby stuff” in her bedroom and is ready for a new “big girl” decorating scheme.
Not a big deal, right? Well, it is to me. See, in the months before she was born, when her mother (my sister) and father were picking out bedding and lamps and blankets all in a Baby Snoopy theme,
I know, right? How could you not love that? I drew every character and hand painted them in this fun scene. It took me many hours with tiny brushes, but it was worth it. For the first four years of her life, my niece loved looking at all the bright colors and fun characters on the wall.
But now she’s a big girl. Ready for “big girl” decorations like hearts and flowers and pink and purple. My sister tried to fight it, but we both knew it was a losing battle. I relented. The mural is going away. I’m okay with it.
I thought you guys would like to see it, though. I’ve got every character I could think of on there. Even Pig Pen. He’s not in the park with everyone else, though… his proper place is over by diaper changing station, where all stinky things belong!
18 comments so far:
Wow! This is fantastic! I wish you could transplant it into my house. Hildi on Trading Spaces used to drape walls in fabric – any chance your niece would go for that so you can keep the mural intact?
Thanks Gretchen. I did suggest hanging fabric, but neither my sister or niece liked that idea. I have decided that if I ever do something like this again, I will paint the designs on wood or foamcore, so that they can be taken down and used again
That is positively gorgeous! It’s sad to have to cover up such beautiful (and time-consuming) work, but just take lots of pictures while you can. You could always frame a few of them, or make a killer scrapbook page.
Thank you Casey. I took lots of detailed pictures last week. I love your frame and scrapbook ideas!
This is absolutely AMAZING!! My family loves Peanuts theme. The detail is great. I;m sure it will be hard to see it painted over. Maybe just switch her to another room huh?!
That is positively gorgeous!
You are crazy talented!
Thanks Rockie and Diane!
This is fabulous. Can we just move it to my daughter’s room? She would LOVE it.
How sad to see it painted over…but those kids do grow up. Much too quickly.
Wow, it looks perfect. Like Charles Schultz drew it right up there on the wall.
Wow… that mural is incredible. Sad to hear it’s going to be painted over. Still, awesome job on the mural.
As the mother of the 5 year old, it is very sad that it is coming down but she has been ready to change it for awhile
It was great while it lasted though!
this is absolutely amazing! thanks for sharing! you are soo talented!
Oh… I so love it. I wish I could fly you to Aussie to commission one for my new little boy! Thanks for posting it.
Hah! Neala, you fly me to Australia and I’d be happy to paint for you
I really love the mural you painted! We are thinking of painting a different mural for our nursery, but I was wondering if you could tell me what type of paint you used for the characters (acrylics or regular wall paint?)
NewMom, I used acrylic craft paint for the mural. In particular, I used Apple Barrel gloss paint, which is my favorite type to work with. The glossy finish made the artwork look polished and be easier to keep clean.
Hi, We love your mural you painted! Hoping to do something of the same nature for our nursery. When you painted the characters – did you outline in black first – then fill in with the colors? Or did you paint the colors and then outline last? How did you keep the black outlining so consistent? What kind of brushes did you use? And how long did it take you to do just paint the characters? You look like you are Charles Schultz! Great job! You are very talented!
Thanks for the help – we are just amateurs getting started and would appreciate some expert advice!
Ann
Hi Ann, and thanks for the compliments! My process was to draw the characters in pencil, paint the colors, and then go back and outline with black. I used a very small brush for the outline, and I used the full width of the bristles as the width of the outline. This allowed me to keep the outline width consistent throughout. I used all gloss acrylic paints (Apple Barrel). I spent approximately 40-50 hours (hard to keep count!) painting the characters.
One tip I can suggest when planning a mural like this is to draw it out on paper first, to scale, to make sure everything is going to fit the way you want it. Also, if you have a hard time getting the characters to look just right, you can use a laptop projector to help you out.
Good luck with your mural!