Jungle Wall Mural
A local preschool, where my boys attended many moons ago, reached out for original art to brighten up their outdoor space. They had a wooden wall above their sand pit that needed an update. Their vision was a jungle-themed mural with flat color and outlined characters — it was important that they be able to touch up my art over time — so shading and texture were not an option here. I worked with their ideas and the result was this fun mural!
The Design Process
When I was approached to design, draw and paint this mural, I wanted to quickly get buy-in for the layout and illustration style. I did sketches on paper and when I was happy with my drawing, I imported the rough idea into my iPad Pro. Using a digital pencil and a the Adobe Fresco app I explored color options. The client loved the design and it was immediately approved.
Next, I measured and took a photo of the wall that needed painting. As you can see, there are round holes that needed to be worked into the design solution (these used to be tunnels where children could place a ball in one hole and it would come out another, but these were clogged over time).
I wanted to integrate the holes into the design, so I printed out the photo of the blank wall (above) and used tracing paper to arrange and sketch my animals to fit in the space.
Once I had the tissue paper sketch solution, I went back to my iPad Pro and imported the tracing paper image. I did a rough coloring of the new sketch in Adobe Fresco with my Apple Pencil and layered the image on the photo of the wall, so the client could get a real sense of the finished mural. It was approved and I was ready to start painting!
The Results
This fun mural was painted while the pre-school was closed during the COVID-19 in 2020. When the daycare was allowed to re-open, the children, staff and parents were absolutely delighted to see a bright, lighthearted update to the outdoor space. I am thrilled that it still brings joy to so many!