RTA Mural: It's all finished!
All of the mural details + answering your questions.
For the past several months, I’ve been painting a mural for Greater Dayton RTA’s new Children’s Interactive Center. The project started back in July 2024. I received a Form Submission (always happy mail to see in my inbox!) with a request for a mural. So, we set up a time to discuss the project and tour the space!
The first phase of the project involved coming up with and presenting design options. I spent a month putting together a Lookbook with three different concepts for them to choose from. They had a list of elements they wanted to see in the design, so I made sure those were incorporated in some way. We all landed on a winning concept and I was given the ok to start painting!
I started working on site in November and it took until the end of March to complete the mural. There was really no big rush on the project so I was typically there about three days a week; splitting my time between the mural, the frame shop I co-own, and working on commissions in my studio.
The process for creating this mural began with painting the background first and then adding layers of the foreground on top. Sky → River and Sidewalks → Cityscape Buildings → Bus, Arches → Trees, Foliage, Map, Timeline → End with Butterflies!
The butterflies were easily my favorite part to paint and the most fun for others to watch come to life. You can see a short video of the process here:
I also purchased wood cutouts of butterflies that I painted and had installed on the wall for a dimensional effect! I love the way the butterflies add movement to the design and “fly” alongside visitors as they walk in and around the room.
With this being such a big project, I could go on and on about probably way too many of the details, but I prefer to share more of what you’re interested in hearing. So over on Instagram, I asked if anyone had any questions they wanted to know about the mural and had a few good ones come in.
But first, I will share one quick story that’ll give you an idea of how I think about the design of murals and how they interact with a space. Lots of people ask this, just trying to wrap their mind around the process.
Day one of the project came with an unexpected pivot that ended up being a good one. In the original sketch, I planned on the sky being a pale blue color. But the weekend before I began, the main wall color for the entire room was chosen and painted beige. It travels all the way up the wall into the second story. I made a quick shift, thinking the design would look so much better if I let the beige be the main sky color. This way, your eye travels all the way up, making the second story feel like it’s part of the mural. If I had gone with my original blue sky plan, it would’ve visually chopped the wall in half and taken away from the expansive feeling. In the end, I was really happy with how it turned out!
Alright, on to the questions you wanna know...
How big was the wall? It was a little over 1600 sq. ft. in size!
What type of paint did you use: artist paint or house paint? I use house paint. Most of the time, I’ll use Behr’s small sample jars. This is great for smaller murals and helps cut down on waste. But with a project this large, I went through several gallons of paint. Sherwin Williams Cashmere in Eg-Shell was perfect for this mural. Pros: The colors and sheen have a beautiful finish that’s durable and easy to clean (important for a Children’s Center!). Also, the consistency was great: not too runny, not too thick. Con: It only comes in a gallon size, so there’s a lot more wasted paint.
What type of brushes do you use? I use paint rollers and Wooster Interior Paint Brushes for basically all murals. For the smaller details, I’ve found that small angled brushes from Hobby Lobby work great. I also tried using Zibra brushes for the first time. They’re made specifically for muralists and I really like them! The square brush was hands-down my favorite to use. With it, I was able to freehand almost all of the lines in the bus route map (pictured below), simply because of the brush shape!
What are your favorite and least favorite parts of painting murals? I love choosing the paint colors! The way colors interact and work with the space makes all of the difference in the feel of the mural. I also just love painting-especially when I’m painting the details of smaller sections (like the butterflies and the bus). Least favorite part? Honestly, coming up with design concepts. Ok actually, I really do enjoy thinking about all the different options, I just tend to get too many ideas going and it’s hard to simplify and translate the ideas digitally. But I am learning to come up with better ways of approaching this!
If you have any other questions about this mural or have ideas of your own, feel free to share ‘em below! And if you’d like to see some of the other murals I've painted, you can find them right here.
Talk soon,
Kristen