Painting My First Mural

I've always been inspired by murals. They have a way of changing the mood of a place without needing to change the whole space. A plain building can become memorable. A café corner can feel more welcoming. Even a home, a roadside wall, or an outdoor seating area can gain character through colour, scale, and imagination.

I have long aspired to create murals. On my travels to other cities, I've seen how they can enhance public spaces. Walking around my city of Port of Spain, I have envisioned how mural art could uplift the city walls, creating beauty for its residents. I could see the kind of work I wanted to make: graceful, decorative, full of movement, and rich with colour. Yet one thought kept coming back to me. How could I offer mural painting as a service if I had never actually painted a mural?

So I chose a wall at home and treated it as my first real opportunity. The result became a personal milestone, a large Art Nouveau-inspired image of beautiful blues encircled by a glowing golden halo. It taught me more than I expected, both about the practical process and about the confidence that comes from finally making the work you have been thinking about for years.

Building the mural layer by layer

Once the idea felt clear, the real work began. I approached the mural in stages, which helped make the process less overwhelming.

I sketched the design directly onto the wall

I had created my initial sketch in Procreate on my iPad. Then I took a photo of the wall and transposed the image onto the photo. I used the bricks on the wall as my guidelines. I kept stepping back to check the overall shape. This became one of the most useful habits throughout the whole project. Up close, it is easy to focus on one eye, one curve, or one section of hair. From across the room, the balance of the full composition becomes clearer.

I used acrylic house paint for the main colours

For the main painted areas, I used Sherwin-Williams acrylic house paint. Since this was a wall piece, house paint made sense. It was suitable for the surface, gave good coverage, and allowed me to work in larger sections without treating the mural like a tiny detailed canvas.

The blues came first as the main colour family. I wanted them to feel rich and layered, with enough variation to keep the piece interesting. Using related shades helped the mural feel cohesive, while still giving depth to the background and surrounding forms. After filling in the face and the hair, I painted in the flowers.

The golden halo began with a red underlayer

Using my knowledge of working with gold leaf, I painted a red base for the halo. The red acted as an undercolour, adding warmth beneath the metallic gold layer. This small choice made a big difference. Gold over a warmer base will look richer and more luminous than gold painted over a plain pale surface.

When I added the gold over the red, the halo began to glow in the way I had hoped. It became a focal point, framing the face and giving the piece a luminous quality. Against the blues, it stood out beautifully.

This was a good reminder that what sits underneath a colour matters. Underlayers can change the final mood of a piece, even when they are partly covered. They add depth, warmth, and history to the surface.

I added character through the face and freckles

After the main areas of colour were in place, I turned my attention to the face.

Faces carry a lot of emotional weight in art. A tiny adjustment to a line or shadow can change the whole expression. I wanted this face to feel calm and slightly dreamy, in keeping with the Art Nouveau influence.

The freckles were a small but important detail. They softened the face and made it feel more individual. Details like that can bring warmth to a large piece. They invite people to come closer after first seeing the mural from a distance.

That is one of the pleasures of mural work. It can operate at two scales at once:

From far away, the full shape, colour palette, and composition create impact.

Up close, small details like freckles, brush marks, and outlines reward slower looking.

I enjoyed that shift between big gestures and careful finishing. Both are needed. Too much detail too early can slow the piece down, but without detail at the end, it can feel unfinished.

The outline brought everything together

Once the colour was laid down, I began outlining the whole piece.

This stage changed the mural dramatically. The outline gave definition to the forms and brought back the decorative quality I wanted from the start. It sharpened the relationship between the face, hair, halo, and background. It also made the Art Nouveau influence clearer, because line is such a central part of that style.

Outlining a large work takes patience. A line can look hesitant if the hand is unsure, so I worked with intention, even when I moved slowly.

The outline also helped unify the different colour areas. Before it, the mural had shape and colour. After it, the piece felt complete. The lines gave it structure, rhythm, and polish.

That final stage was deeply satisfying. It was the moment when the wall stopped looking like a project in progress and became a finished work of art.

What this first mural taught me

My first mural taught me that scale changes everything. What looks simple on paper becomes a full physical experience on a wall, one that responds to light, furniture, and the mood of a room. A mural does not just decorate a surface. It defines how a space feels.

That project began with one wall at home and a desire to finally try. It grew through blues, a red underlayer, a golden halo, and a strong Art Nouveau influence, and became proof that this is work I want to keep doing.

I keep thinking about which walls might be next. A quiet corner in a café, a hallway that needs a bit of character, an outdoor wall waiting for colour. If one of yours has been on your mind, I would love to hear about it and see what we could create together to make your space a little more beautiful.