DIY: Mountain Mural

 

Materials Needed:

1. A tired wall in need of something dramatic!
2. Spackle or drywall mud for repairing damages to the wall
3. Sanding block to smooth filler
4. A pencil for outlining mountains
5. Painters tape for protecting the adjacent walls
6. Mix and Measure containers with lids for mixing and saving paint.
7. An assortment of paint brushes: We used various sized artist brushes for details, a larger paint brush for filling in larger sections, a small roller and tray to smooth brush strokes in large sections
8. Paint! We used a mixture of quarts and the smaller tester size. The background is Balboa Mist (OC-27), in Benjamin Moore Ben paint, eggshell. For the first layer of mountain we used Ballet White (OC-9), in Regal Select, Ulti-Matt. The closest range is in Stone (2112-40), Benjamin Moore Ben paint, eggshell. The darkest level for the trees was Grey (2121-10), in Benjamin Moore, eggshell. By using a mixture of Matt paint and Eggshell paint (which has more sheen) we were able to create a layered look, building up the sheen towards the first layer of mountains and the trees.

Instructions:

1. Decide what type of mountain range you’d like. We referenced images of the local mountains to get a more realistic shape and flow. But maybe you’re inspired by the Karakoram mountain ranges and want something more rugged. This is art, feel free to take an artistic license.
2. Use the painters tape to mask off adjoining walls.
3. Using your pencil, make a rough sketch of your layout and write in each space which colour you’re going to use. We actually went in and did a dab of each colour as well, to avoid confusion.
4. Start painting from the background in. Using the artist brushes we painted the edges, then using the larger brush or the roller we worked the larger sections.
5. We used the Ulti-Matt in the farthest range and mixed it with the darker colours to create the in between layers. Make sure you mix enough paint to do 2 coats because it will be hard to match later if you don’t! We saved our leftovers in yogurt containers.
6. We needed to do 2 coats of paint and ended up using the smaller artist brushes to refine the edges of the mountains on the second pass. While you’re doing this, make sure that you paint in some irregularities to make them more realistic…mountains have shrubs, trees and outcroppings.
7. The trees were done last but followed the same steps. Make sure you research some tree images in silhouette. I found myself wanting to draw the branches sloping down but in actuality they branch upwards.
8. Take the tape off and enjoy your masterpiece!!!!