Airbrush Mural Tip: Removable Art

One of the greatest dissapointments for airbrush mural artists is the day your mural gets painted over...

... it will happen.

The child that loved Barney will grow up, the rock n' roll bar will change to a dance club and the mexican restaurant will get new management... it is just a fact of life.

There is a way around it though! One that benefits both you (the artist) and the owner... you can make your artwork removable.

What's so beneficial about making your airbrush mural easy to remove, you ask?

Well for one, by offering to paint the mural on large sections of removable surface as opposed to directly on your clients walls you don't have to be at the client's home/business to complete it!

You can simply set up shop in your own space and paint away. This has huge benefits for you. One, you don't have to adhere to the clients time constraints - that is, if it is a business they may want you to only work when the shop is closed for the day meaning lots of late nights.

Secondly, clients don't understand how art works - that is, when your airbrush mural gets to that "ugly phase" (that they all go through) I guarentee (from personal experience) that your client is going to have some major second thoughts! If you are working from the comfort of your own home/studio you can avoid these uneasy client feelings all together.

Third, clients are always more impressed when they are presented with a finished product rather than living with it in various stages of compeletion over several weeks. Think about it - it's sort of like christmas - even though you asked Santa for the skateboard and you know full well that the skateboard you asked for is under the tree, there is a lot of excitement and suspense in waiting for christmas morning to open it! Same goes for your murals.

Lastly, by painting the mural away from the clients location, they will not be able to provide untimely input on it's design. When you commisioned the project, you agreed on a sketch and that's what you plan on delivering ... if you paint it in front of their eyes ... it leaves them open to change their mind easily and request costly additions or subtractions that were not previously agreed upon.

Are you convinced yet? Wondering how to do it?

Well, there are several ways.

Plywood / Mesonite

The easiest I have found it plywood or mesonite sections. Go to your local harware store and check out the selection. The trick to painting on these surfaces is to gesso or prime the HECK out of them before you apply any paint to make sure the surface is smooth.

IMPORATANT: Also, before you start painting, plan how you are going to hang / attach the boards to the walls - you may need to drill through the front of your board to attach them and the last thing you want is to drill a hole in your painting!

They way I ussually hang my airbrush murals is to attach a 2x4 that has the bottom, long edge cut at a 45 degree angle to the back of the plywood / mesonite using screws through the front.

This notched 2x4 fits into a second notched 2x4 that is attached to the wall on which it is to be mounted.

I also attach a solid 2x4 at the bottom of the board to add stability to the whole thing.

I carefully fill in the screw holes with putty and sand smooth then, as I said before, gesso or prime the heck out to them!

Canvas

The other option is large canvases ... I personally find these to be MUCH too expensive for my clients as a large canvas (8'x10') can easily cost over $200!

If your clients are willing to pay for them though, they work great. The only caveat is that these too have to be gesso-ed or primed prior to painting because the texture of the canvas doesn't work well with airbrush art - the surface needs to be smooth like a babies butt!

One other downside to canvas is that they are tricky to move. You wouldn't think that a canvas would be any more difficult that a large peice of plywood or mesonite - but canvases have a way of catching the wind and sailing out of your hands!

The nice thing about canvas is that they are dead easy to hang! Just wire up the back and your off to the races!

So next time someone asks you to paint an airbrush mural, consider suggesting that you will deliver a fully finished, removable mural to their business / home instead!