With a sky mural you can create an extraordinary feeling of airiness and space in a room. A night sky twinkling with far-off stars is a wonderful sight to behold as you drop off to sleep, or you can create a sense of infinite horizons with a soft blue skyscape with gently drifting clouds.
Step 1: The Sky View for You
Your skyscape will depend on where you want it. You can create an impression of a sky-covered room in different ways. To create height and airiness in a living room you might want to use trompe l'oeil painting, creating a faux skylight on the ceiling that reveals sunny sky and wisps of cloud. A more labor-intensive and more ambitious project involves painting an entire ceiling. You don't have to stop at the edge of the ceiling and extending it onto your vertical walls can enhance the illusion.
Step 2: Select a Painting Method.
The easiest way to create a blue sky is to use the color washing technique. This will help you to achieve the soft, uneven color effect that you will need. Clouds can be painted in various ways. Applying paint with a sponge is a recommended method to create the impression of soft clouds. Alternatively you can buy transfer kits that will help you mark out a cloud design or you could opt for re-usable stencils. Paint can then be applied with a sponge or for some designs, using a brush.
Step 3: Suitable Paints.
You can't go wrong with acrylic or latex paints for indoor faux painting. Make sure your surface is well-prepared and sealed. Avoid flat paint as a base coat and go for a low gloss satin or pearl paint instead. Then use your water-based acrylics for your sky, followed by the clouds. To protect your mural, a transparent sealer may be a good idea.
Choose your colors with your dcor scheme in mind. To create the subtle gradations of a color-washed sky, you will need blue paint in two or more shades. Depending on your room you may want brighter blues or smoky, grayish hues. A night sky can be enhanced with stars in glow-in-the dark paint. Invisible by day, non-toxic fluorescent paints are a hit in children's rooms.
Step 4: Ready, Steady, Go.
Clear your room; cover the floor and furniture with drop cloths and pitch your ladder. For complex designs you may need a platform on a scaffold to make it easier to apply the paint on your ceiling. Clean, plug holes and cracks with putty, sand and seal patches and prime the whole with a suitable base coat - as noted, avoid flat paints as a base. You are now ready to create your skyscape.
Step 5: Painting Your Sky
Depending on your design, you can then apply your paint, color washing the sky background and using your chosen technique (brush, sponging, and stencils) to create your clouds. A night sky doesn't require a black or deep blue ceiling, though these can be effective. A simple sky effect is achieved in a bedroom simply by using fluorescent paint that is invisible in the daytime but absorbs light and emits it after dark.
Step 6: Finalizing the Look
You may want the tranquil simplicity of a plain expanse of sky, but you could also add some celestial extras. If you have some confidence in your abilities and it fits the design you could add rainbows, distant birds and other sky phenomena to complete your heavenly view.
Step 1: The Sky View for You
Your skyscape will depend on where you want it. You can create an impression of a sky-covered room in different ways. To create height and airiness in a living room you might want to use trompe l'oeil painting, creating a faux skylight on the ceiling that reveals sunny sky and wisps of cloud. A more labor-intensive and more ambitious project involves painting an entire ceiling. You don't have to stop at the edge of the ceiling and extending it onto your vertical walls can enhance the illusion.
Step 2: Select a Painting Method.
The easiest way to create a blue sky is to use the color washing technique. This will help you to achieve the soft, uneven color effect that you will need. Clouds can be painted in various ways. Applying paint with a sponge is a recommended method to create the impression of soft clouds. Alternatively you can buy transfer kits that will help you mark out a cloud design or you could opt for re-usable stencils. Paint can then be applied with a sponge or for some designs, using a brush.
Step 3: Suitable Paints.
You can't go wrong with acrylic or latex paints for indoor faux painting. Make sure your surface is well-prepared and sealed. Avoid flat paint as a base coat and go for a low gloss satin or pearl paint instead. Then use your water-based acrylics for your sky, followed by the clouds. To protect your mural, a transparent sealer may be a good idea.
Choose your colors with your dcor scheme in mind. To create the subtle gradations of a color-washed sky, you will need blue paint in two or more shades. Depending on your room you may want brighter blues or smoky, grayish hues. A night sky can be enhanced with stars in glow-in-the dark paint. Invisible by day, non-toxic fluorescent paints are a hit in children's rooms.
Step 4: Ready, Steady, Go.
Clear your room; cover the floor and furniture with drop cloths and pitch your ladder. For complex designs you may need a platform on a scaffold to make it easier to apply the paint on your ceiling. Clean, plug holes and cracks with putty, sand and seal patches and prime the whole with a suitable base coat - as noted, avoid flat paints as a base. You are now ready to create your skyscape.
Step 5: Painting Your Sky
Depending on your design, you can then apply your paint, color washing the sky background and using your chosen technique (brush, sponging, and stencils) to create your clouds. A night sky doesn't require a black or deep blue ceiling, though these can be effective. A simple sky effect is achieved in a bedroom simply by using fluorescent paint that is invisible in the daytime but absorbs light and emits it after dark.
Step 6: Finalizing the Look
You may want the tranquil simplicity of a plain expanse of sky, but you could also add some celestial extras. If you have some confidence in your abilities and it fits the design you could add rainbows, distant birds and other sky phenomena to complete your heavenly view.
About the Author:
Sky murals can change an ordinary room into a work of art. Visit ThatPainterLady.com for plenty of painting technique ideas and complete instructions for painting techniques for clouds to make your sky murals even easier.
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