Feb 85 min read

Abnormal Mural Surfaces

It’s actually kind of crazy how versatile painting murals can be. I’ve seen some crazy sh*t painted on some crazy sh*t. Let’s talk about it.

I want to start with just the surfaces i have had to paint on. Then I’ll mention some interesting surfaces that others have experienced painting on. The good, the bad, and the just plain annoying places I’ve had to splash paint onto start with:

Floors
Ceiling
Windows
Warehouses/shipping container
Elevator shaft
Fence
Vehicles
Organic objects

Floors

I have yet to paint a floor that is being walked on but I have painted the ground of a racetrack. So only a floor that professional racers are doing donuts on top of. My only moment of bitc**** was trying to get my stencil onto the ground. You can’t use a projector and you can’t step back to see the accuracy of it. I had to print this logo out piece by piece on large blue print paper and somehow was able to trace it on that way. I’m not a huge fan of painting on the ground. In some cases it would look cool say if it’s an ocean floor, water, etc. but not a logo that needs to be perfect. Plus it hurts to paint it, your neck starts to ache and it’s not comfortable sitting on concrete.

“Freedom Factory” racetrack, painted by Summer DeSalvo

Ceilings

Painting ceilings looks so darn cool but it’s also a pain in the neck, literally. There’s also a bigger chance of paint getting on the floor or basically anything thats under the ceiling. I’ve also had problems with dripping and it takes a bit longer to get things where you want them on the ceiling due to perspective and getting it perfect.

Ceiling mural by Summer DeSalvo

Windows

Hate em. I just really don’t like painting windows. It is so time consuming and then it’s still transparent in the inside from the sun shining through. Unless you spend your entire year putting coats on coats on coats onto the window. Then you’re basically charging the same because it has to be worth it to the owner. Especially when it’s a holiday window painting that will be scrapped off in a month. It’s quadruple the work for the same pay, sometimes less pay. Let’s move along.

“Perfection Fur Studios“, window painting by Summer DeSalvo

Warehouses/shipping container

This could be a make or break for me. I’ve had one very good experience and one terrible. Warehouses can make a great canvas. Thats if it’s a smooth and solid surface. Concrete warehouses are much easier to paint on than metal. When it’s metal it’s like going back to windows. Forget about it. Let alone many warehouses have uneven surfaces due to ridges on the metal. You then have no choice but to spray it and if there’s detail in that piece then it’s very challenging unless you’re a spray painting pro.

“La Ola” shipping container mural painted by Summer DeSalvo

Elevator shafts

I have ironically painted two elevator shafts. One I painted the outside of it and the other was a 5 story elevator shaft that I painted the inside of. Both are phenomenal stories that I will talk about in a future post. For now I will just say, I enjoyed them both.

My first elevator shaft I painted the inside and it was of course before the elevator was put in. I had to climb like a monkey up scaffolding 5 stories up painting an underwater scene that now has a glass elevator going up it. the top of the house was the top of the water with a boat and the bottom floor was the anchor. Throughout the floors was an array of sea life with the chain going all the way to the bottom from the boat.

Sarasota elevator shaft painted by Summer DeSalvo

My second one was the “Legacy Tower” on Fort Myers Beach, FL. It’s the last thing standing after Hurricane Ian took the Time Square area and the whole beach pretty much, away. I donated this piece due to it being my hometown and it is now an icon and reminder of the towns resilience while it all the businesses get rebuilt around it.

“Legacy Tower” painted by Summer DeSalvo

Both were easy in terms of the wall surface. The only difference is that they were both narrow pieces of art which required you to not be afraid of heights. Whatsoever.

Fences

Fences call for a bit more work due to it not usually being a smooth surface but they overall look great afterwards so it’s worth the extra paint. Wooden fences are a bit harder than plastic fences in my experience due to so many nooks and crannies let it alone the roughness doesn’t allow for detail and requires more paint. Plastic may just need two coats.

Fence mural by Summer DeSalvo 2020

Vehicles

Vehicles are tricky. There is certain paint you can use but it’s mainly for artists who use airbrush. You would need to use Eurothane and other coatings so it lasts. If you want to paint a vehicle then I suggest doing a lot of research and maybe keeping that as the type of art you do because it’s a whole other ball park that requires lots of different materials.

I painted a van with a base coat that I sprayed that’s made for cars. Then I painted flowers on top with acrylic. After that I sprayed a clear sealant over top of it so that it would seal the acrylic paint. This is not how people usually go about it but I was just starting out and needed the job so I did the best I could. For about $800 too. This was a “sell your soul” moment.

Side note, I have seen this van driving around since and it still looks just the way it did when I painted it. It’s been 4 years.

Van mural painted by Summer DeSalvo

Organic objects

A helmet. Ive painted a very large helmet for the front of the “Freedom Factory” racetrack in Bradenton FL. This I did awkwardly in a lift directly over top of it, 5 months pregnant in the baking sun.

Sheds, sheds are like warehouses but smaller.

Painting foreign objects or far to reach places can be a challenge but some come out to look really freakin cool afterwards and honestly, the experience is worth it in the end. At the time I had no idea how to do some of these jobs but thats what trains your mind to be an amazing artist. You’re able to excel past the norm.