WHEN YOUR LOOKING FOR A MURAL or PAINTING VS HIRING A PAINTER

First thing when a client contacts a painter they say "How much is this going to cost?" The client knows that a "paint job" is going to be painted accurately, neatly and professionally. He/she also knows that they are going to charge them a base hourly rate for time and materials. "It's going to run this much.." the painter would estimate the area (rooms/walls), then the client decides if that is going to be too high or a fair price.

A mural isn't really in the painter/estimate category since there are a variety of factors that have to be taken into consideration.

A mural isn't just neatly rolled back, brushed or sprayed onto a wall or surface, its skillfully painted and rendered on like any canvas painting of what era of style or expertise have you. A mural is more like a temporary to permanent art installation or scenic backdrop used to enhance the decor in a living environment. A mural usually takes up your whole peripheral vision or the entire wall area or areas. There are different levels of the detail and effectiveness of a painted wall mural for instance, a mural can look very cartoony with animated characters or simple, fun and fantastical like a child's nursery room. A good muralist can paint things hyper-realistic or add photo-realism to create a believable atmosphere or an unbelievably yet exaggerated glimpse into another realm or reality, the surreal...dream-like.
There are commercial and residential muralists as there are painters. Commercial murals incorporate imagery, signage, lettering and advertising or lettering and design to a large scale (sometimes billboard) for storefronts and building walls. A residential muralist paints interior rooms or walls to create an atmospheric effect and to provide faux textures such as stone or marble. A muralist is equal parts graphic illustrator or classical painter. The skill involved at painting a high resolution detailed mural is that of any expert trade or craft since its using color and hue with light and shadow. A mural is like a canvas painting or illustration set to the desired scale of the wall or surface. The image or images can be projected onto the surface or plotted out with grids  and chalk.
mural Painters can go off of what the client envisions or has seen in a book or magazine. They can bring the desired scene to life or some form of reality. They can work with existing architecture or paint in new forms to "trick the eye" as Trompe Loie'l Artists do.

So a mural just isn't something you just paint on, its a craft and skill in knowing the right way to present a scene or time or place that enhances your living spaces the right way! It holds a little piece of your interests and ideas as well as providing a retreat.

There is no set base rate or price for an expertly executed mural painting since its really up to the level of believability the design is. There are estimates to what the artist sees he/she needs to realistically make for it to feel worthwhile. Given the time rendering, shadowing, back painting, color washing, illustrating, factoring light and perspective to get the desired effect. It all has to be taken to consideration. Some artists go by the area(s) and get a price per square foot. That sometimes isn't the best policy when there are areas of heavier concentration and illustration to get the right look the client is after. A single area may take a day or two to render alone! Also, you are painting on a rough/semi smooth surface area at times with little detail brushes!

A muralist just needs to know what level of detail, How many rooms or walls, What is the total square area, What is the design or idea.
The muralist can then assess what materials and how long it should probably take.

PAINTINGS for EVE. My CANVAS PAINTINGS.

 











the Artful Dragonfly paints canvases! 

I guess my own style of painting leans on the surreal and illustrative side. I'm always drawing up lettering and designs for band posters or juxtaposing imagery when I can. This painting is up at a gallery space downtown in the Everett st lofts.  I painted this particular one several times since someone wanted it and I didn't want to give up the original just yet. It made the cover of the local Portland Mercury one year.  This painting is for sale. Contact for more info.   

This canvas painting is roughly 60 X 60 and sits on a wall in my daughters room. I painted it for her just before she was ready to be born. I feel as she grows she'll have curiosity and questions about it. It will be cool to explain to her the story of the monkeys discovering the apes. I even hid a heart shape in the vines and painted her name in the cloud subtly so she will discover it!
I painted this canvas in about four days taking breaks and such. I did a bunch of back painting then illustrated over it, put in my darks and shadows and highlights later. Some areas I stippled paint on and others i cut long strokes.
I guess its sitting in that sci fi fantasy realm still child like and playful with its intent. I'm going to be painting more of these themes as they work into a story i'm writing.

Animals are probably the best subject for a young mind. When i see most toddler and baby books they all have something to do with learning about animals or safe cuddly little shapes. With this one I had that idea but i also wanted our animal being to be hanging out enjoying the sun on some far out planet. I liked the notion that the animal being isn't paying much attention to you but you are observing it observing its surroundings enjoying the planets warmth. I wanted it to be simple fun and cartoony. The shiny reflections are from a two part epoxy finish. I wanted to give it that extra depth even though I used One Shot, a sign painting enamel that already has a glossy finish. I will be making more of these themes in my spare time too as I love the feel of them. I hope my daughter does too!

If you are interested in what the artful dragonfly/Andrew Rossi can do to enhance your space or commission a painting, please contact at claudeapple@yahoo.com  503 984 3374

SIGN PAINTING a Logo with Lettering

I was contacted to see if I could paint a college logo design on the gymnasium wall at Warner Pacific college. I said no problem. I had done this trick before involving a paper pounce pattern and One Shot. The trickiest part was to not go around the pipe and wiring that runs up the middle of the center line where I was to go but paint the whole thing to make it disappear. There were no lifts involved since it was on the stands and I had to use lean to ladders with some help. I didn't fall off the stands and it turned out pretty nice. painting over brick semi gloss is not incredibly easy when you have to run perfectly straight lines and curves..etc. The chalk holds through
every time.

SOUNDROOTS SCHOOL of MUSIC for Children PERFORMANCE STAGE MURAL DESIGN

I started with a blue/green blank wall with the stage area cut as a theater space of the 30's and 40's. Immediately Fara and myself imagined the idea of an old speakeasy style deco period motif on the wall gracing the stage performance area. The entire SoundRoots space itself is so unique with its eccentricities throughout. The rooms have art deco style architecture and musical motifs. It used to be a dry cleaners that after hrs hosted wild social events as a speakeasy club in the 70's and 80's. It has since become a unique music school for toddlers, children and teens to learn world music styles and rhythm. Famous rock/blues/jazz icon pictures grace every room and a real sound stage will be installed soon for jazz and folk! This was a fun place to design a simplistic deco era jazz club motif and use simple shapes to build upon. I kept the color pallet grounded in earthy rich tones of the era and deep browns to accentuate the wood ceiling and floor. I put an old stripped down bass guitar neck and headstock graphic into the design on the columns to give it a musical touch. They liked it. They purchased theater seats and some nice mirrors. A theater curtain will be installed soon too! What a trip!

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This was a simple yet challenging job I did where the border was solid white squares and I made them into faux brick or stone. I added a shadow on the sides to give a dimension to the look. 

Next Generation Pre School Childrens Mural Room

 I gave the room a fairy tale castle type feel with the gothic style
windows looking out to an imaginary kingdom of magical trees and bubbles.
They kind of resemble golf courses in a way with the lighter greens.
A surreal landscape for adults too.
I faux finished the bricks with my roller technique and stipple brushed them too.

LOGO PAINTING and Design

I believe I painted this in 09. I just found this on my camera and they have a pic of it online.
Its a nice big logo that I painted with One Shot Sign Paint. I made an image transfer for the logo. They have delicious crepes by the way!

the PORTLAND MEMORIAL OAKS BOTTOM MURAL

First off, I did not paint this. I was part of a process that helped start the project rolling in Oct of 2009. I landed the job by getting a call one day from Mark Benett the owner of ART FX Murals in Portland. He said his crew was out of town on a job and needed help getting this one started. They had been in the planning stages for this one for years. I helped him get this set up on the roof with a large 60' lift that we had to be harnessed to. I helped paint the first image on the wall which was the great Osprey to the right and the tree with the Eagles nest. Oaks Bottom is a large Wildlife Reserve in Sellwood Oregon. The building that is seen from the west hillsides, Oaks Park and the highway is the old Portland Memorial Crematorium building. It houses over 75,000 dead people. Quite an interesting juxtaposition in theme to be painted celebrating the Wildlife that surrounds the area. It is also one of the larges Murals in the country! This side of the upper terrace of the building was over 60 ft high!

MORE SIDEWALK SIGNAGE

              
 A sign I hand painted and transfered logo and lettering for a clients Rolfing Business.

 This is the only photo I have right now of the Bossanova sidewalk sign in East Portland. It was given to me. The paint I used was the industrys standard and finest" One Shot " for the Lettering and Logo. The cropping is a little weird since the paper lettering is temporarily on the door and my sign sits out of the way. Oh well..You get the idea of lettering and styles I am capable of..not that boring lifeless text on the paper covering the doorway.

MORE CHILDRENS ROOMS by the ARTFUL DRAGONFLY

Here is a simple design I did onto a wall for a returning client of mine on the west side of Portland. Its a basement room converted into a childrens nursery room. It was a pleasure to make a sun explode its rays in that space! I had to go over the design at least three or more times with low VOC interior paint to make sure it was opaque enough over the solid sky blue.

It was a design perspective to not make it too busy or overlap too many built ins on the wall areas. The composition worked out great.

SIGN PAINTING, WALL LETTERING at PACIFIC NATURAL FOODS in Tualatin Or.

I spent more than a few months working over at Pacific Foods (the place that makes hemp milk, soy, tofu, etc.). I was hired to hand paint various sizes and styles of lettering and borders in their corporate offices, lunchrooms etc.
The older part of their building complex was painted some years ago by an artist and they had since lost their contact with him so they found me! The projects went pretty smooth..I had to order a lot of paper to make my image transfers by the foot and chalking it onto the wall was tiresome, it went easier than I thought.
We had to use environmentally safe paints which i purchased from a favorite local "green" paint store called ECO HAUS (great place for everything home improvement!) in portland. I normally used One Shot oil based but I had to go with the latex based paint so it needed more than one coat. It spread on thick and had to make sure the edges were good and solid. The first two rooms went at a decent pace..I had to copy and reproduce their Vision Statement on a few walls too. I have a few more photos from my new camera here.

 Since there was only myself leveling and chalking lines on top of taping the rolls of paper transfers, tracing the outlines, it took a little more time than expected but with great results.