| Murals:
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We
can trace the history of mural painting right
back to the time when cavemen drew and painted on the wall of
their dwellings, keeping a visual record of their lifestyle
which still delights us today. The Romans used
trompe l’oeil to make their homes seem
bigger and the Greeks to decorate otherwise
plain walls.
Trompe l’oeil
is usually a mural but a mural
is not necessarily a trompe l’oeil as
the work may be purely decorative.
The
art of transforming a blank wall into a trompe l’oeil
painting is not new, neither are the reasons for doing it! Translated
from French, trompe l’oeil
means ‘trick the eye’ and has since
Roman times been used both to amuse and to enhance domestic
and commercial architecture. The artist’s technical skill
is meant to go undetected and, with the use of perfect perspective,
cleverly observed light and realistic
colours the trick is to make the onlooker believe that a surface
is not flat, or that a space exists where there is no space.
A trompe l’oeil painting is one which shows apparently
three-dimensional objects and spaces in a way
which the eye accepts as realism in the context
of their surroundings.
Commissioning a
mural by
Janet Shearer:
The first step is to contact Janet
with an outline of your own thoughts about the project. You
may have the seeds of the idea in the back of your mind....
try explaining your views to her. Janet has over twenty-five
years of experience in this field and is very used to adapting
ideas to suit the architecture of the building and to helping
you decide what is suitable and what is not. If you have photos
of the rooms involved, send them to her.
The
next step is a site visit. You will have to pay her expenses
to visit the building and meet you in person before she can
design a painting for you. She will require a fee for this visit...
but often can keep this to a minimal cost if she is able to
fit the visit in with some other travel arrangements.
Having outlined your ideas, however minimal,
Janet will make her own suggestions which are an extension or
interpretation of your own initiative and will usually do a
sketch for you to think about. She will also give you an idea
of cost and the amount of time involved.
Murals are traditionally done in situ,
but Janet can paint huge canvasses 'off site'
in her own studio which can be fixed by a small team of experts
to the wall in a very short time to avoid the lengthy stay of
an artist with attendant scaffolding and inconvenience. This
can often be a cheaper option as it cuts the cost of accommodation.
Unbelievably, it's almost impossible to tell that the painting
is not done on the wall itself!
Making a contract with
Janet to paint a mural for you is done on the approval of a
scale drawing of the painting which she will provide. Although
small modifications are bound to happen as the painting progresses,
the agreed design constitutes the basis for the contract and
is binding on both parties.
It is usual for her to require a deposit
of between 30% and 50% of her fee before work begins and for
the customer to be responsible for all other costs - travel,
accommodation, materials, insurance etc. Janet estimates her
fee on the basis of her time spent doing the work, so the surface
area covered is incidental.... it's the detail in the painting
which takes time and therefore costs money! Small highly detailed
paintings are more expensive than large walls with masses of
sky!
Once
the painting is finished, varnished and approved, the balance
will be due for payment immediately. |
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