It's a Small World Mural - Time-Lapse Video - 3rd, 4th, & 5th

Mary Blair and Joey Chou are the inspiration behind these murals. I loved Mary Blair's original work for Disney. All of her amazing illustrations remind me of my childhood. Joey Chou was hired to modernize her It's a Small World illustrations. He did an amazing job and is now a big source of inspiration of mine.

I pre-drew several versions of the city on paper before I grabbed my chalk and drew on the black paper. But when I start, I like it to flow, I do not stick to the drawing. It is more a guideline and source of ideas. 

Once the whole drawing is complete, I go mix my paint. MIX PAINT BEFORE NUMBERING! You need to know how many numbers you need. I like to mix a lot of intermediate colors, trying to stretch the color wheel. 

Once colors are mixed,  I number and create a chart for myself. Additionally, I set up a paint cart and get it labeled and numbered. 

Once the paint is mixed, I number the painting! usually 20-26 colors... depending on the subject. 

When students start painting, they are instructed to OUTLINE each shape before painting it in. They get one color, I hand them the cup. They look for their number only. For the most part, they all do it perfectly. I do not worry if there is a spot painted with the wrong number.

Once we got most the mural painted in, I added the black and white ribbon in the background and the tile look at the bottom. It needed a break in color. Then to fill in the back ground, we printed with large sponges on sticks, gold tempera paint. It finished it off!

Collaborative Mural Painting!!!

I am so excited to share with you my first ever TIME-LAPSE VIDEO of my Annual Collaborative Mural Painting!  This year the theme was " Hot Air Balloon Magic".  I looked at many images for inspiration. Most ideas came from three main artists; Joey Chou, a current Disney Illustrator, Mary Blair, a Disney Illustrator from the 50's, and Ton Schulten, my favorite abstract landscape painter.

ENJOY!!!

I have done this for about 10 years now.  I used to have students paint a flower garden. They could paint any kind of flower, anywhere, any color. Doing a mural that way is more creative for students but it runs into some issues.  It is not a smooth process, there are arguments about location, size, colors. Then if someone does not finish, they are upset when someone finishes it differently than they planned. You can see the headache it can become.  

I started 6 years ago drawing a mural around a school wide theme.  First year, I let students paint in certain areas with warm colors, other areas cool colors. It was okay, but looked very unorganized.  Then, 3 years ago, my classes were taken from 60 to 45 minutes.  Game changer, I began creating a large paint by number.  I mix lots of colors, this year 21 color wheel colors. 

I tell students, "I get to be the artist! My vision, my work of art, you are going to help me paint it!".  THEY LOVE THIS!  It has made this experience so fun! Everyone likes having a color with a number. No arguing, no issues!  They have a blast and feel proud of being a part of something huge.  

I number part of the mural first, let the colors get filled in, then decide how to number the rest of the areas.  Students paint way faster than you expect! If yo see me in the video working, I am numbering, not painting. I try to keep up with their pace!

DONE!!!