Template: Front Porch Mural

[JoJo]

That is just beautifull moonbeam, you are very talented, i'd like to let you know i live a little closer than the rest, i'm only the other side of the country not the world ,& any time you are in the neighbour hood i have lots of bare wall.lol
Just love your work. Do you do kookaburra's.
JoJo

[Moonbeam]

I was impressed before. but now I'm completely blown away... I love the "shed door" with the cow's head peeking out...

Now here's the 64,000 dollar question, Moonbeam? what do you do for a living?

I have an artist friend of mine that does lots of murals and such...his kid's bedroom is "sea-animal scape"... Dolphins, sea lions, turtles, etc... I'll see if I can find the photo he sent me...

When I first read a folkart magazine and tried it (10 years ago) I just found it so easy and I painted everything in sight... I painted on old chests , cupboards, cans, watering cans , milk urns, frypans, boxes...you name and I sold them in shops for quite a while but with art and cratft the thime it takes never earns you much ....I was working for about $8 an hour... but I absolutely loved painting so I did it any way.

Then I started teaching others.. I held classes in my rumpus room for quite a while but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as painting myself...

When I discovered murals and sort of trompe L'oeil I did get offers of work and I did a few.. I marbled Pillars, "woodgrained" a chipboard staircase and did murals but I was so nervous painting for others that I hated it... I don't have the confidence to feel like I can charge the prices that are the going rate... A tropme L'oiel mural ( detailed area) will cost you $100 Au per square foot .... I guess I've never had that sort of money and I would feel like I was ripping someone off with a fee like that so I'd do a whole wall for $100...dumb hey! But that's me..I'll never be rich but I would rather keep the things I LOVE doing as "MY" thing not something I do for money...it just spoils it for me! So I am working in a Private dipensary in the Nursing home team( I'm a drug dealer Hehehe)

I would LOVE to see some of your friends murals...please show us!

[Moonbeam]

That is just beautifull moonbeam, you are very talented, i'd like to let you know i live a little closer than the rest, i'm only the other side of the country not the world ,& any time you are in the neighbour hood i have lots of bare wall.lol
Just love your work. Do you do kookaburra's.
JoJo

Thanks Jo Jo ..You an Ausie are you?What state you live?
A couple of years ago I would have glady taken an order for a Kookaburra but sadly at the moment I work in pharmacy and rarelt get time to paint..they are all packed away in storage

[Moonbeam]

Dang that's cool. Now for the inevitable hounding:
Dang??? hehehe is that an american saying ( are you in USA or canada?) The only time I have heard Dang is in a cowboy movie "dang Nab it!"

1. What type of paint is that?
Anything I can find in acrylic... Detail and special colours I mix with acrylic folk art paint but such a big area I just used cheapo house paint - just plain wall paint.. I scabbed from friends sheds etc.... I had some tints to make my own colours too.
2. How did you prepare the surface(s)?
Prepare?? what's that? I'm a slacko when it comes to preparing anything .. I didn't!! As you see I am not a professional
3. Is it fixed (coated) with anything?
The only part I coated was the little mouse in the brick cavity and the stone wall by the door simply because EVRYONE that comes here has to touch it and feel it.. so I thought with everyone running their hands over it ..it would wear off or get dirty so I used a flat estapol floor varnish, that's all! I ccan wash the whole lot anyway just as you wash a wall.
4. How long did it take you?

It took a few months of a bit here and a bit there ..I painted whenever I had a spare moment...I did get a sore neck doing the high bits and the ceiling.. I didn't have Michael Angelo's scaffold
5. Did you plan it out in advance and do prep sketches, etc?
No.. Only in my mind...The animals I used a folk art pattern to trace the outline ( I can't draw for nuts) and the stone blocks had to be worked out and measured -I used a builders string line for that... but the other stuff just sort of unfolded as it grew
6. How is the paint/color holding up against the elements?

I painted it about 4 years ago now and it still looks the same but it is indoors and the outside porch wall is very sheltered ..gets no rain but I hose oout there all the time It was my first go at anything like that and apart from a few murals I did for others I have never done it since and sometimes I look at it and have no idea how I did it.. I wonder sometimes if I could even do it again? Probably once I started I could... I did have a stone spiral staircase on another wall at one stage but I painted over it because I wanted to put furniture there and it looked stipid with chairs in front of it....But even that I just had to try to see if I could paint it.. I must try and find a picture of that... I did photograph it before painting it out.THere are so many things in life I want to learn and try but there is just not enough time is there. I want to learn more about Phot editing next for my scrapbooking

[Corey]

Dang??? hehehe is that an american saying ( are you in USA or canada?) The only time I have heard Dang is in a cowboy movie "dang Nab it!"

Actually that one's "Dag nab it". Dang is definitely American/Canadian slang. Basically it means "WOW!" in this context. I'm in Canada - Calgary, home of the Calgary Stampede.

Anything I can find in acrylic...

Also my fave. Easy to work with, great colors, and flexible functionality.

Prepare?? what's that? I'm a slacko when it comes to preparing anything

Nice!

It took a few months of a bit here and a bit there

Wow, that's amazing. Looks like it took much longer than that. I'm impressed.

No.. Only in my mind...

Awesome. Now that's art.

I want to learn more about Phot editing next for my scrapbooking

Well I'm a Photoshop guy of some experience and there's lots more around here too so just let us know if you have any questions, and before you know it you'll be zooming along. Since you already understand all that stuff like color values, contrast/tone, lighting, etc. it should be a breeze for you, i.e. it's just a matter of working out the semantics of your chosen software. These days a lot of the popular photo editing packages do quite a good job of automating a lot of repetitive tasks too, so the main thing is just figuring out which software will work best for you. From there it's all downhill.

I like your approach toward money. I'm the same way. I've never really had any to speak of so it has no influence on how I live. I may live to regret that but for now it's not a factor.

[Moonbeam]

Actually that one's "Dag nab it". Dang is definitely American/Canadian slang. Basically it means "WOW!" in this context. I'm in Canada - Calgary, home of the Calgary Stampede.

Oh Boy What a dork!!! I always thought it was dang nab it! ( not that we say it here) If it means Wow! what about that song Dang me dang me they oughta take a rope and hang me???? It don't make sense to me..dang it! .. and Canada .. my dream to go there one day..I mean it..I have never travelled and have no desire to =except to Canada.. I have always though Canada is so beautifull and the Rockies WOW! Do you know I have NEVER even seen snow..I dream of experiencing snow one day.. I have friends that are visiting Canada at the moment and the emails are making me envious




Wow, that's amazing. Looks like it took much longer than that. I'm impressed.
actually the only thing I timed or logged the time was the cow door..there was 20 hours of work in that




Well I'm a Photoshop guy of some experience and there's lots more around here too so just let us know if you have any questions, and before you know it you'll be zooming along.
I doubt it but I hope so .. I only discovered scrapping a few months ago and somehow stumbled across digital scrapbooking and found SM... and have been hooked ever since


Since you already understand all that stuff like color values, contrast/tone, lighting, etc. it should be a breeze for you, i.e. it's just a matter of working out the semantics of your chosen software.

The trouble is I do NOT know what to look for .what "functions do I need in a program?



I like your approach toward money. I'm the same way. I've never really had any to speak of so it has no influence on how I live. I may live to regret that but for now it's not a factor.

Always been a sustenance and covering and be content sort of girl ..I do not believe money can bring happiness.. I like the scripture that s says " Give me neither poverty nor riches"........It's nice to have enough but why do rich people turn to drugs or commit suicide if it's the be all and end all of happiness? Look at Whitney houston for example! She had money, fame, wonderful singing talent and incredible beauty but look at her now... I like the simple things ..and my friends.. ( not that my friends are simple oops! I didn't mean that LOL)

[Moonbeam]

LOL, boy Granny for someone who is speechless you sure had a lot to say!!

Ladybug

ROFL well said Ladybug , nothing would shut that woman up!

[Moonbeam]

I agree with Charlorne you are a very talented lady. Is there something you're not good at? How many hours or years it took you to do those beautiful murals? Is it oil or acrylic paint? Finally, thanks for sharing with us!

Afew months of my spare time mostly in the evening instead of TV..like my scrappin' now.. I'm not into TV much..rather do something or make something.
It is just acrylic paint ..(wall paint mostly)
and yes there is so much I am not good at..the list is too long to fit though,,
But one is Photo editing and making embellishments ect .. I am still a bit computer illiterate in many areas

[Corey]

I agree. Poor Whitney. That can't be fun.

As for Canada, yep it's definitely beautiful here. You can see the Rockies from here. But it's double edged - Calgary is very beautiful and a great place to live but also the most expensive city in Canada currently. So it's a tough spot at the moment but definitely a really nice place.

As for the image editor it all comes down to what you need to do. If you just want to crop and resize then you don't really need any software. But if you want to adjust, etc. then you need something which offers the types of adjustments you're likely to do. Some people just need red-eye reduction whereas some people want full control over contrast and color.

The Grandpappy of all image editors is Photoshop, my main love. I've spent thousands of hours using Photoshop and I've loved every single one. You can do pretty much anything using Photoshop. For example at the extreme check out Bert Monroy's digital paintings, it's all 100% Photoshop:

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/insp...hamburgers.jpg
http://www.bertmonroy.com/fineart/te...eart_damen.htm

It really comes down to deciding where you are headed. You can easily start with something free and then evolve from there, that's what I recommend. There's quite a few good freebies out there nowadays:
http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/ima...eephotoedw.htm

I'd say start with GIMP. It's 100% free, popular, and it's definitely sufficient to get your sea legs. Might even be all you need actually, it's a pretty decent package. Try some of the other free image editors too. Here's the GIMP installer for Windows, note that you will have to install the free "GTK library" seen there also because GIMP relies on it:
http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

There's also add-on packages for "help" and "animation" there. Also some freebies (like brushes and patterns) for GIMP here:
http://www.gimp.org/resources/

Here's a look at the workspace, very Photoshop-ish:
http://www.gimp.org/screenshots/wind...creenshot1.png
http://www.gimp.org/screenshots/wind...creenshot2.png

Anyhow give it a shot sometime. GIMP has a good help file and there's tons of resources on Google.

[Moonbeam]

Thanks for that .. I haven't had time to look at all the links yet but I definately will...
I have a photo program ( Picasa) a free google one.. I know how to crop , remove red eye. and play around with all the other stuff on there.. but what I want now that I am into scrapping is to be able to do what Granny did with those pins - rub a piece out so it looks like it goes through the paper.. and to make embellishments with a TRANSPARENT background.. I want to make the great embellishments on SM look like they go through things..... Thats all
( For now) Nothing I have tried has that capability... I have downloaded some free ones and then deleted them because they don't do that... The freebies you placed on your post.. Can you tell me if any of them will let me turn a jpg image into a png with transparent background?