Five Myths About Mural Painting that are Killing Your Dreams

Mar 31

There’s no way around it: murals are cool. (That’s not a myth haha; I’ll get to those in a minute.) It’s awe-inspiring to stand near a gigantic piece of art, and dare I say even more magical to step back and admire one you just painted.

As someone who’s painted 15 murals over the years, I’ve received lots of questions about how to get started, which is understandable because I had tons of burning questions at the beginning too! I honestly didn’t realize how accessible the entry into mural work was until I actually took the leap and gave it a shot.

In this five-part series (awwww yeah!) I’m going to walk you through some of the most important things I’ve learned about mural work, starting with some common myths that hold creatives back from getting started. The other articles in this series will tackle things like technique, supplies, and finding walls and clients, and I’ll be rolling them out over the next week. By the end of this series, my hope is that you’ll have the knowledge and confidence to try painting a mural of your own in 2020.

Before I dig in, though, I want to encourage you to view murals as a fun adventure rather than something scary. I promise that if you are already making regular-sized art, you are capable of making murals.

Bonus: when artwork looks good at normal size, it looks AMAZING at a larger scale. Plus, learning to paint murals adds another skill set to your creative arsenal and gives you another way to diversify your income streams.

Now, let’s blast through those pesky mural myths, get you in the right mindset and put you on the right track towards finally painting those murals you’ve been dreaming of.

MURAL MYTH #1: I can’t just “start”. I need to assist an experienced muralist and learn from them first.

Okay this one is clearly a myth because mural assistant positions don’t open up very often - but some version of the “I’m not ready!” mindset pops up all the time when I ask about people’s biggest roadblocks to mural work.

Here’s the truth: As soon as you’ve painted your first mural, you are a muralist.

You might already be a muralist and not even have realized it! Last year I realized that I’ve *actually* been a muralist since I was 15, when I freehanded this moody-ass Death Cab for Cutie mural on my bedroom wall (thanks for the creative freedom, Mom and Dad).

Behold, my first mural masterpiece:

This serves as evidence of some of my earliest lettering, too!

Admittedly not my best work, but listen: Becoming a muralist is not as hard as it seems! There’s definitely something about the scale of the work that intimidates us, but I’m here to tell you that all you need to do to become a muralist is paint one mural. That’s it!

And I don’t mean a 50-foot high wall on a high-visibility downtown building, either. A mural can be almost any large painting on almost any surface. If you have any experience in 2D surface art at all (drawing, painting, lettering, etc), you already have the basic skills and abilities to do mural work.

MURAL MYTH #2: I need expensive, professional supplies to paint a mural.

Here’s another perceived roadblock I hear on a regular basis, and it makes me sad because it’s 500% not true! There’s nothing special about mural supplies, especially when you are starting out. I’ve painted plenty of murals for less than $50 worth of supplies.

Basic painting supplies are basic mural supplies. You need a brush and paint (acrylic, tempera, house paint…anything will do). Or a paint marker. Or even kid’s washable markers if you’re doing your mural on paper. You most likely already have the supplies you need to complete your first few murals.

Please do not let the myth of “expert” supplies stop you from starting a mural! I’ll get into the exact supplies I currently use in another article in this series, but trust me when I say you don’t need a specific type to get started. If you have some acrylic craft paint and one or two brushes on hand, you already have mural supplies. It really is that simple.

MURAL MYTH #3: I need a huge exterior wall to start painting murals (and I don’t have access to one).

The “wall” myth is related to the supplies myth. Friends, you do not need a giant exterior wall to create murals. In fact, you don’t even need a blank wall to get started with murals. I know that sounds crazy, but hear me out:

Any large surface is a mural surface. I’ll dive deeper into this subject in a later article, but for the time being let me suggest other possibilities for mural surfaces:

A large sheet of paper taped to the wall
A big cardboard box
A large canvas
A piece of plywood

The possibilities are actually pretty vast when you stop thinking “wall” and start thinking “any large surface.” Start looking around you with the “large surface” mindset, and I promise you will quickly spot some mural-surface possibilities!

MURAL MYTH #4: You have to have talent for painting large-scale. My regular drawing and painting skills aren’t sufficient.

There are absolutely techniques and skills related to mural work that don’t necessarily apply to average-scale painting. But the idea that those skills are completely unrelated to the skills you already have is a big ol’ myth.

If you already do art you have the skills to paint murals. There are always things about a new type of art (on a new surface, at a different scale, with a different kind of paint) that can be intimidating. But it’s still art. If you’re an artist you have already been through plenty of iterations of your own work and tried out different tools and media. You can do this!

One of my earliest commissions for Skillshare’s HQ in NYC in 2015.

And let me add a bonus truth to combat this myth:

Your skills are already good enough to create a mural. Don’t go thinking that your current skills need to be at some mysterious “level” for you to then be worthy of painting a mural. You’re an artist. Your skills are currently - right this second - good enough for you to work in the world of murals. If I could do it as an emo teenager, you can do it now.

If you like to practice, that’s awesome. I’ll cover ways to develop your mural skills in a later article. But let me give away the big secret right now: it’s mostly going to involve painting murals.

In short: you don’t need to wait to level up your skill set. You can start painting murals right now.

MURAL MYTH #5: Murals are permanent, so there’s a lot of pressure not to mess it up.

Just because you can’t toss a wall into the trash can doesn’t mean murals are permanent :)

Murals are temporary. A coat of neutral paint takes care of nearly any mural. A little extra background color can erase any mistake. Don’t get sucked into the (false) mindset that murals are forever because they are SO not forever.

Paint fades, it can be scraped off, it can be covered by more paint. Murals - like all art - are temporary. Don’t be intimidated by the myth of mural permanence!

Ok friends, I hope I’ve piqued your interest in murals and given you some positive food for thought in terms of your own mindset regarding painting murals. Is there anything else that’s stopped you from starting in the past? Leave a comment below letting me know what mindset blocks have gotten in your way, and I’ll see if I can help shift them!

In the next few articles I’m going to cover supplies in more detail, how to work on a large scale, how to practice (and find your first surfaces!), and how to find and pitch mural clients.

I hope this was helpful to you, and I can’t wait to share more!

x Lauren