Yep thats right, some of these murals need extra assistance in order to get them perfect. Especially when painting logos, quotes, or extremely detailed pieces it’s necessary to use a tracing method. Especially if it’s a large surface. We can’t all be perfect but we can certainly fake it.
There are three main ways to trace on a mural before painting it. Those three options are by using a projector, a doodle grid, or a square grid.
I will use a tracing method in most cases because it cuts the time in half, giving you more time to paint and it gets the painting perfect every single time. If it’s more of an organic object or it’s in an area that I can’t use a projector I’ll freehand it on but if you can use a trading method then take the opportunity.
Projector
A projector is my personal favorite. I’m able to hook it up to my phone through Bluetooth and pop it onto the wall in minutes. Ill draw it on, unplug it and either go home if its outside or start painting if its inside. Thats the only pain in the a** about a projector, if the commission is outside then you can only trace it on at night. I’ll get to the job in the afternoon, paint on the background then wait for the sun to set to trace it on and come back the next morning to paint it. If you’re inside then you can do everything in one shot.
Picture by Pixabay.com
I bought my projector through Amazon and it’s definitely one of the best investments I’ve made in my art career. They’re life savers so invest in one if you haven’t already. I believe my first one was around $200 and I still use it to this day. Projector
Doodle Grid
A doodle grid is very commonly used with muralists and especially spray paint artists. You first spray paint doodles all over the wall, take a picture of it, put the image over top with the opacity down low and you can see where certain parts of the original reference are on the doodles so you’re able to guide your way through tracing it on after. I will have a tutorial on this in the future. If anyone wants more information then contact me and I will get the tutorial up sooner than later.
Doodle Grid
Square Grid
This is the first way I was taught how to trace back in high school. You put a grid over top of an image, draw the same amount of squares on your larger surface and draw the image in that way.
Square Grid
This way is probably the most time consuming which is funny that this was the way I learned first. I could have probably saved a lot of time in the beginning of my career by using this solution as a last resort option. When I first started painting murals I really didn’t have any knowledge on it, I never looked into it much and I basically taught myself as I went. I could have saved myself from a lot of wasted time if I trained myself quicker in the beginning but I definitely learned a lot by all my wasted time and mistakes. I honestly think this is the only way I would have been able to learn as much as I have today. Personal lessons.
These are all great ways to start painting murals. This will build your confidence and ease some anxiety if you’re nervous about getting your mural perfect. It’s also a good way to learn how to paint. Teach yourself shapes within an image and the form of certain objects with depth.
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