It has been interesting, over the years, to hear individuals’ thoughts on the difficulty of doing exterior murals.
I would say on a whole
that their views are split about 50/50. About half think it’s a walk in
the park (“I mean, how hard can painting be?”), with the other just standing in amazement.
The fact of the matter is the reality differs from person to person, season to season, job to job.
I’ve worked on what I
would consider substantial jobs (120′ horizontal walls on a graveled
decline, meaning extreme attentiveness as well as four stages of
scaffolding at the bottom,) to a 6′x6′ piece I could do standing on a
2-foot step ladder.
One of the biggest
factors, and one most don’t consider, is the hoisting of one’s body
weight up one, two, three or more stages of scaffolding dozens of times each day.
And then there’s the obvious climbing back down, using the
already-weary muscles. This coupled with the pure exhaustion of being
out in the elements for hours on end can have quite a cumulative effect.
Another aspect most
never think of is the fact that once you are up on scaffolding–which you
are entrusting with your very life and never, ever, forget for a
moment–is the fact that muscles are constantly tensed: legs and pelvis
for support, torso for control, and ultimately your arm and hand for
accuracy.
Additionally, you’d be
amazed how one must contort their body–and hold it completely still–for
entire sections of precise work.
There are other instances, and any
artist doing large murals can attest to this, where one must simply use their other hand.
Now, I am left-handed, and am obviously very adept at using it
artistically. BUT, there are always points in large projects where one
really must employ the other hand. This action adds its own stress
factors.
The other elements,
literally, are the heat index, rain, wind, etc. These can have a
profound effect on you, especially when you are elevated and at the
wall’s edge. Winds are funneled which contribute to stability issues,
and tend to rapidly dry out the paint; all in addition to leaving you
physically parched.
Of the elements, the
sun and heat are the largest factors. I currently limit my mural
painting to that time of day when the sun is NOT directly beating down
on me. This is just common sense, but even with that tactic I am not
escaping the humidity (or, in the case of mural creation in Florida
during the summer months, extreme heat anyway). The overall heat issue
can be unbearable to many, but I just take it in stride.
Now, I’ve only talked
about some of the physical and environmental factors extant in executing
a mural. The rest are mental and artistic. When you are up in the air
ten, twenty, or more feet and are standing two feet from an enormous
wall surface, one CAN get lost in it. An artist has to continually
“view” the entire work from, say, 30′ back from the wall.
This is an
interesting concept for sure, but without this ability, one would spend ¾
of their day climbing down and stepping back to see what they need to
do next. Not very efficient. One has to maintain an overall sense of
where everything is and their exact strategy on what comes next.
My current mural
has an additional ingredient that makes it even more demanding. The
original concept art was 8.5”x11”. I have had to recalculate that out
onto a 9′x55′ wall. All this without throwing anything out of
proportion. I’ve drawn in markers on the entire surface, but with many
things, what looks good on paper doesn’t always translate into the real
world. All this is to say that there are constant refinements and
alterations taking place as I paint. Yes, more to make the project
interesting!
In closing I want to
add THE most important point in all of this: it is done very happily and
for the sheer love of the work. This is my most favorite of art forms,
and the gratification that comes back to me, when people go out of their
way to tell me that the mural has touched them, is enormous. But even
with that said, I don’t do what I do for me; I do it for anyone and
everyone with the hope that it uplifts them, if only for that moment.
~Ana
The Making of a Mural: The Mural Chronicle of Tampa Bay Artist, Ana Livingston