Do you have a room in your home or a place of business that could use a feeling of calmness and relaxation or a sense of bringing the outdoors inside? If so, these are the murals for you! Stenciled with just 8 designs, it includes simple step-by-step directions for "washing on" the sky and the grassy areas.
Getting Started
The 6' x 8' or 5’ x 6’ area used here can be expanded to suit your room.
• First you must measure off the space needed for your mural.
• Marking the designated area
Lightly pencil or chalk a guideline around the designated area. (Measure in 3 ¼” on all sides and mark lightly, this will be for All Things poem).
Designer Tip #1: Mark the area with a dot in at least three points and, using a yardstick or carpenter's level, connect the dots.
• Tape along the outside of your (3 ¼”)guidelines with painter's tape (so the area for the poem is covered with tape), pressing down firmly along the inside edge.
Tape off the Sky Line
• Measure down 18" from the top of the taped off area.
• Place tape UNDER the guideline.
• Press down firmly to secure the tape.
• Roll on or paint the entire space you have marked with the pale (off white) gray-blue (purchased from your local paint dealer).
• Allow the paint to dry overnight.
Painting the sky
• Measure down 20” from the top of your mural space.
• Use the level and pencil to mark a light horizon line.
• Apply painters tape (press down firmly) to the underside of the line. This marks off your sky area.
• Mix glaze (purchased at your local paint dealer) and the gray-blue flat latex paint by following the instructions on the glaze label.
• Wet the car wash sponge and ring out until it is “damp” dry. Also wet the washcloth and leave wet.
• Pour a small amount of the gray-blue mixture into the shallow container.
• With the “cut” end of the car wash sponge dip into the mixture, blot slightly on a stack of paper towels begin “washing” on the sky.
• Start at the top of the mural and wash the gray-blue on in long horizontal strokes, moving left to right.
• Smooth out any heavy areas with the wet washcloth by gently rubbing over them in the same left to right motion. Don’t be too careful; you want some of the white wall to show through for a natural looking sky.
• As you reach the horizon line use the wet washcloth more and more, this will lighten the paint so that the sky is almost white by the time you reach the taped horizon line.
• Wash out the sponge, washcloth and container, and carefully remove tape from the horizon line while paint is still wet.
Painting the grassy area
It is very important to keep the grass very light.
• Add white then add the glaze to the sage-green. Don’t worry if the color looks too light. It is easier to stencil over the color when it is lighter, and you will darken areas after you stencil the mural.
• Use the small sea sponge (damp-dry) and lightly “stroke” the green mixture on the horizon line mixing slightly into the blue sky. This will look better to if you don’t make it too “perfect”.
• Then proceed “washing” on the grass with the car wash sponge and wet washcloth in the same way you did the sky, left to right horizontal strokes.
• Allow to dry overnight.
Adding the Clouds
• Mix a little white latex paint with the glaze.
• With the small sea sponge, lightly pat on dome like shapes for clouds.
• Gently pat with the wet washcloth to soften the edges of the clouds where needed.
Optional Clouds
If you would like to add puffy clouds you could use our HV-90 cloud stencil or, proceed as follows:
• Use a clean damp dry sponge and put on dome-like puffs of white glaze mix.
• Use a clean wet washcloth to pounce and blend the edges of the clouds into the blue sky.
• Fade out across the bottom.
• Keep the washcloth wet.
• Allow clouds to dry.
• To tint your clouds, load a stencil brush with English Lavender (SP-29) Spill Proof® paint and pounce (stipple) a little on one side of the clouds
Ready to Stencil
• Stencil each of the designs out on paper to test first.
•Use low tack tape or Repositionable Spray Adhesive to place designs.
• Follow the placement of each stencil as shown in the photo.
Designer Tip #3: Use a carpenter's level or a yardstick to keep the stencil straight.
• Start at the horizon with the Countryside stencil J-812. Try and keep the colors pale to appear in the distance.
• As you proceed downward with additional designs, gradually increase the intensity of the colors so by the time you reach the bottom foreground, colors will be strong and clear. The Spill Proof ® stencil paints we use here are forgiving. If the paint is still fresh, mistakes, fingerprints, and smudges can be erased. Depending on temperature and humidity, even paint that has been in place for 2 or 3 days can be erased with an ink eraser. If a shadow of paint persists, you can touch it up with the background paint, let it dry and continue stenciling.
Peaceful Valley Mural 6’ x 8’ Mural Stencils Used:
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
- Peaceful Valley Mural Stencils
- Painters Tape
- Flat white latex paint (1 pint)
- Very pale blue latex paint (1 pint)
- Pale sand latex paint (1 pint)
- 1 can of liquid glaze
- 1 car wet washcloth
- Plain blank white paper
- Spill Proof Paint Colors in the following colors: MSP0008 Telemark Green, MSP0009 Colonial Golde, MSP0016 Black, MSP0017 White, MSP0023 Violet, MSP0024 Navy, MSP0027 Pilgrim Green, MSP0029 English Lavender, MSP0036 Rich Red, MSP0039 Rhubarb, MSP0041 Pumpkin, MSP0047 Periwinkle Blue, MSP0057 Walnut Brown, MSP0058 Pewter, MSP0060 Grass Green, MSP0100 Metallic Silver
