Seems like Scrappy Girl, and now decor8, started a little stir by blogging about tree murals. In a good way, though! My inbox has been on fire with questions about taking on a mural project. Here’s a question from decor8 reader Megan that I’m hoping you can help her with:
“I am an Interior Design student at San Francisco State University. I love to do little crafty projects on the side. I was excited about your link and info on the tree mural project. I am trying to do one myself. The biggest challenge has been finding a good image of a simple tree (no leaves) to project and paint on the wall. I would love to figure out where the tree image came from on the image that I included here (shown above). It is from the November 2006 issue of Nylon magazine from the Billabong office. It is a bit small, but I am wondering if you or your readers could help me figure out whether or not they think the wall image is painted or if it is a decal.” – Megan
Megan – I’ve not seen this as a decal, so I’m thinking it’s a mural… If you can’t freehand it yourself, post an ad on craigslist or visit your local art school and check out their bulletin boards. You surely will find a free ads posted from students on commission work they offer, murals, etc.
Can anyone help Megan? Anyone know of any Billabong contacts?
(image from megan via nylon magazine)
January 9th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
One resource that might be helpful is the stock image site istock.com. On istock, you can search for illustrations as well as photography. To search for illustrations exclusively, add the word “vector” to your search criteria. The best part? The prices typically range from $1-5. Additionally, vector built illustrations can be scaled to whatever size you would like without loss of resolution. If you find an illustration that is appealing but do not have Adobe Illustrator, or Photoshop (and want to manipulate the image), you can always take the file to a local Kinkos and have them help you create a PDF of the art. You could then either create a transparency and project it, or have Kinkos tile the image for you at actual size onto paper (you would then have to trace or create a corresponding grid on the wall). Good luck!
January 10th, 2007 at 12:53 am
I don’t know if my first comment went through (it said there was a problem with Blogger) but I think her best bet is to see if the University has an opaque projector to loan out (or possibly a professor has one?) Then take a pic of a tree she likes (or find one in a magazine, on the internet, etc) and trace it on the wall.
Opaque projectors are amazing!
January 10th, 2007 at 1:01 am
Hey, thanks for posting this!
Megan/aka freshpinkstyle
January 10th, 2007 at 4:45 am
Cute mural kit here