Recently I was hired to paint a ceiling for a playroom. I have painted a lot of things in my life but this was a first. For me the only way to learn was to do. I started by finding out what kind of clouds they wanted. They wanted cirrus clouds, so my first step was to research cirrus clouds, get familiar with their texture, flow, coloration and rythym. I studied cirrus cloud after cirrus cloud until I had it set in my mind exactly how I wanted them to look. I wanted them whispy and soft, with just a slight undertone of pink.
Whether you are a pro painter or you are a hobby painter I want to give you some tips on approaching painting a special picture like this:
1: Know what you or your client wants ahead of time
2 : Do your research, don’t just look at one example, look at many examples. This will help clarify in your mind how to approach your subject matter.
3 : Research how other painters have painted in this technique or style. Go to the paint store and pick up paint chip cards in a variety of colors. They are free. I have been painting a lot of years and don’t usually subscribe to they way others do things. I see how they have done it and then I figure out my own way, that’s the artist in me.
4: Have a plan of attack in your mind before you even begin to start a project. See it in your mind from beginning to end. Be prepared to change your mind due to unforseen circumstances, in other words, keep an open mind, don’t stubborn yourself to death on a mute point. Part of being an artist is living in the moment with what you are working on and allowing it to take on it’s own rythym. In the end you will be much happier with what you have produced.
5: My biggest tip, with paint there is nothing that can’t be fixed, so don’t be afraid. Go with the flow, if you make a mistake laugh it off and start over at the point where the mistake was made. Paint is my friend and it’s very forgiving.
Now, getting down to how I did this. After they had chosen their shade of blue for the background (bird shell blue), I estimated how much paint I would need, for a ceiling, one gallon of the base coat should be plenty. I used egg shell white for the clouds and brought a small bottle of red acrylic to mix with the egg shell to make my pink. I never tape off but if you are inexperienced it may be a good idea to get a roll of paper and tape. They sell it in rolls with the tape already attatched. I also NEVER reuse rollers! When I am done I throw them out, they are cheap and not worth the time it takes to get the paint out, plus they are pretty much worthless after a job anyway.
What you will need :
1 gallon base coat (blue)
1qt white
1bottle acrylic in red
Roller Handle
Med pile Roller cover
angled brush
artistic sponge for texturing (ask your paint dealer about this) it’s not a dish washing sponge
paint key (free at your paint store)
stir sticks (free at your paint store)
Drop cloths, ladder, roller pan and cover, a couple of spare buckets for water, etc. Towels dampened for wiping up messes.
If you’re going to tape off do this first. Roll your base coat and trim edges out. Allow to dry to the touch and paint a second coat if needed or hit any spots you missed and allow to dry. Cover your roller and brush with plastic bags until the job is done incase you need to fix a mistake or you don’t like the way it looks and want to start over.
With the white, wet your sponge and ring out good. Dab your sponge into the paint and tamp off on a piece of paper or cardboard until its semi-dry, you just want a light bit of paint to tamp onto ceiling in the form of clouds. Experiment and repaint with base until you get just the effect you want. This is a visual thing and is subjective to each person, you’ll know it when you see it. By this time you should have a good idea of exatly how much paint to tamp onto ceiling and how to shape your clouds. Allow this to dry then go back and look at it again, if it looks a little thin in spots, tamp it again with the sponge. Rinse the spong out really good. Take white paint and pour into a small bucket, add red in VERY small increments, mix thoruougly. Keep mixing red and white together until you get just the shade of pink that you want. With sponge tamp one small section of clouds and let dry, if you are satisfied with the color, tamp with the pink mix in various parts of the clouds until you get the effect you want. Again, this is subjective, you’ll know it when you see it because it will put a smile on your face and give you a sense of pride.
Biggest Rule to Follow: HAVE FUN!!!!
