Adding Onto An Existing Mural

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to add onto an existing mural that I wanted to share with you. The family has a beach themed painting in their living room and each child has their own sand bucket. Since their family has grown, they needed to add two more buckets to their special mural: one for their youngest daughter, Brinkley, and one for the baby boy they are expecting this summer. The original muralist has since retired and the mother, Jaclyn, reached out to me to help update the painting.

I started out using the existing sand buckets for size references and marking the height and width of the new buckets in pencil. I also decided which bucket should be where in regards to the other bucket colors and checked with Jaclyn that the placements were ok. I drew a quick sketch and started blocking in the buckets with their base colors: bright orange and lime green. I then started to add shading and highlights to create the roundness of each bucket. I worked on both buckets at the same time to allow each layer time to dry. As I worked, I had the cutest audience cheering me on!

I tried to use similar techniques that the original muralist did to shade the buckets so that their styles would match. I then added the handles and sand that they were sitting in. Next, I added Brinkley's name to her lime green bucket. I will return after their baby boy is born to add his name since they have not decided yet. Below are pictures throughout the process of painting the buckets.

Buckets sketched

Buckets blocked in. Shapes need refining.

First layer of shading and highlights

First layer of shading and highlights

Second layer of shading and highlights

Handle added and starting to add the sand

Both buckets with handles

Brinkley's name added

All of the buckets

Photo courtesy of Jaclyn

Do you have something you’d like me to paint? I’ll paint on anything: mailboxes, driveway markers, recipe boxes, coffee tables, or even walls. Feel free to email me if you have a special project in mind! kimberlydenglish@gmail.com