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1. “The most important requirements for painting a wall mural are enthusiasm for the project and stamina. You're painting a large Source 1area and it's going to take a while, but the rewards make it worthwhile.” 2. “ The easiest way to transfer your mural design to the wall is to use the grid method. As you become more experienced, you'll likely find you sketch the design out in less detail on the wall.” 3. “If the mural is going to be exposed to the sun, you'll need paint that'll stand up to this. Check the lightfastness (UV) qualities of the paint you're going to use.” 4. “ Quality acrylic mural paints are the ideal, but check your budget as they may work out too expensive for the whole mural. If this is the case, use them for the details and 'ordinary' household paint for blocking in the under layers or large areas. Choose paint with a matt or eggshell finish so light doesn't reflect off the mural.” 5. If your wall mural is accessible to small children with their inevitable sticky fingers, protect the mural with a final coat of protective clear varnish, which also makes cleaning it simple. 6. Remember to step back regularly and see what the mural looks like from a distance. A wall mural must 'look right' whether you're close-up or just entered the room. Step back to get some perspective on what you've done.  · 7. Use decent brushes; cheap ones will make it even harder work.[ 8. “Although it looked very clean, I washed the wall before priming it using Liquitex Acrylic Gesso, which dries white. When it had dried, I sanded it smooth. That took me two days but I wanted the surface on which I painted the mural to be decently prepared.” (interview, Julia Lamens) [] Painting a mural for a church... about.com: Painting 9. “Next I outlined the complete surface with masking tape, making a mark every 12 inches (one foot) to give me a guide for the grid I would use to transfer my sketch to the wall. (You can see part of the grid in the lower photo.)” 10. I had looked at the condition of the surface to be painted and the environmental exposure the mural would have in order to select the right type of paint. The church said they wanted me to use quality paint, not [|house paint], as they wanted the mural to last. I decided I would need to prime the wall first before painting as it needed to be free of any grease, wax, or oil as well as structurally sound and free of loose particles.