The Artist Returns......

So in my new found freedom (I say freedom...it sounds more glamorous than unemployment) I was lucky enough to be commissioned to paint an enormous mural for a sensory room (I was recommended by a dear friend of mine, for which I will be eternally grateful!) Within 4 days of meeting the client - an absolutely lovely lady, with two fantastic sons, a house full of crazy dogs and the patience of a saint - I had the sketches done, colours picked and ready to start.

The original idea was to go with an underwater theme (traditional sensory room theme), but Ronnie decided to make it a proper "boys room" - so we set upon turning it into the Stadium of Light, home of their favourite team.

These are the preliminary sketches;






A bit rough, as you can see! The room was just over 6 metres long and nearly 5 metres wide. Pretty huge really.

Monday morning arrived, and I headed over to Alton armed with a projector, spirit level & a tonne of other stuff. Drawing was all finished on the first day - not that you could see the sketches any further than a couple of foot away.

If you follow me on twitter (which you should, because I actually remember to update that - @cakediddly) then you will have seen the daily updates.

I shan't bore you with the everyday details, suffice to say that I ended up with a dead arm (hilarious) & wearing a lot of paint over the following 8 working days.

The clients were a little unsure at first, but once it started coming together they loved it. The highlight was when Kieran - their 16 year old disabled son was brought in, and he was gazing round smiling and whooping...it really touched my heart! Another delightful moment was when Stephen - their younger son - ran in, pointed at the wall and exclaimed "That's awesome!!"

9 long days of hard work later, these are the finished results;




Panoramic shot of the whole room




Spent lots of time getting the perspective just right - definitely worth it












My favourite area - the changing room (yes, Campbell is spelt wrong and I'm going back this weekend to fix it...it was the end of a very long day)



3D effects....











Just to give you an idea of scale, here's me working...




And yes, I paint in socks - so that I know instantly if I've stepped in paint. Which I did.




Taddaaa!

And very excitingly, I'm returning after Christmas to paint Stephen's bedroom (another football theme) and Kieran's ceiling (space themed).

Even though it was extremely hard work, I thoroughly enjoyed it & really hope I get the opportunity to do more!