DIY- Tree Silhouette

In my bedroom, I want to exhibit my personality in every aspect possible.  What's the best way to do that?  Paint a wall mural.  This tutorial will explain to you the steps I took to paint the tree silhouette behind my bed, shown above.

Materials:

1. 1-2 8oz samples of wall paint in black, white, or whatever color you would like to use for the mural (amount depending on size of mural, I used only one)
2. Paint brushes, one large and one small
3. Pencil
4. Notebook
5. Ruler and measuring tape
6. Painter's Tape
7. Not more than a week of time

Step 1:

Before you even consider beginning on your mural, pick a spot where you would like it to go.  I highly recommend drawing a sketch of what you want to paint.  This will help you collect your thoughts on paper, and mistakes are easy to correct.  

Step 2:

Once you have your sketch done, take measurements of the wall area and divide the section of wall into an imaginary grid.  To do this, draw a line at the bottom where you want the floor to be, and use a ruler to create lines at half-inch intervals along the image.  As you can see in the example above, I labeled the vertical sections with numbers.  Next, take a measuring tape and get a measurement of the length of the section of wall you will be painting on.  Take that number in inches and divide it by the number of sections you have divided on paper.  The number you have will be the length, in inches, On the wall.  For example, a section of wall is 3'9" 1/2.  In inches, this is 45 1/2.  Dividing this number by my 15 sections, I came up with about 3 1/4 inches per section.  I didn't use horizontal sections, but if you are inexperienced with painting or just think you suck at size perception, I recommend using them, the process is the same, but you'll be measuring the height of the wall, from the floor to the ceiling.

Step 3:

Take some painter's tape and line it along the floor (or baseboard) where you want the mural to go.  Using the measurements you came up with in step 2, use your ruler to draw a tick at the border of every section on the tape.  Again, I labeled these sections with their corresponding numbers.  Do NOT draw lines on the wall.

Step 4:

Using the grid on the paper and the wall, use a pencil to draw the outline of your design on the wall.  Keep in mind that the image on the wall will not be like the one on the paper.  On my mural, I added branches and birds.

Step 5:

Once satisfied with the pencil design, paint the mural.  Paint small sections at a time and make sure each section gets at least two coats of paint.  (Tip: paint from the top to the bottom)  Make sure you don't overwork yourself and take frequent breaks to hydrate yourself, this process will take several days, depending on your schedule.

Step 6:

Now that you've finished the mural, It's time to make some touch-ups.  Erase stray pencil marks and if you have any, use the background wall paint to touch up any drips or smudge lines.

Congratulations! You've finished your mural!  Make sure to show it off to everyone who comes to visit.