on 2/13/04 11:18 AM, [log in to unmask] at [log in to unmask] wrote:

> Something basic about kinds of paint (will regular wall paint do? It is for
> over a double door inside the school), best ways to transfer the design, etc.
> Any
> advice would be greatly appreciated!

Wendy, basic wall paint will do if you're not concerned about fading and
longevity. If you want something likely to last longer, I can suggest Nova
Color paint, which was recommended to me for the murals I did at the Downing
Planetarium. They are located at:

Nova Color
5894 Blackwelder Street
Culver City, CA 90232-7304
310-204-6900 Tel
310-838-2094 Fax

It does dry with some texture, so if you want a very flat, even background
color, for example, it's best to spray it on. If you use an airbrush, be
sure you clean it regularly; this paint tends to stick to parts even though
it's water-based.

In my case the murals were too high up to use a projector to get the image
outline on the walls. I had some ink jet paper left over from another
project, so I took the mural "rough" I had worked up at a smaller scale,
printed the key areas out at 100%, then bought a roll of tracing paper on
which I drew the same grid on as in my rough, traced the outlines of the
planets from the color printouts, taped the tracing paper version on the
walls, and used graphite paper underneath to transfer the outlines to the
walls. Then I had the color printouts to use as reference while I painted
the final imagery. This method involved a lot of preliminary work and used a
fair amount of ink and paper, but it helped get the final painting going
easily and quickly.

Lynette

Lynette R. Cook
Astronomical Artist/Scientific Illustrator
[log in to unmask]
http://extrasolar.spaceart.org/

371 Willits Street
Daly City, CA 94014 USA
(650) 991-7106 Tel
(650) 991-4702 Fax
(415) 699-6937 Cell