About a year ago a friend asked me to airbrush a mural that he could move with him from apartment to apartment that depicted the punisher. His one stipulation was that it HAD to be life size. Everything else was up to me.

This project, for some reason was the project from hell … it was so simple, but I screwed up SO MANY TIMES!!  Looking back, every mistake I made is sort of funny …. I mean seriously, do I have a brain?…. and that is why I am posting this now.  It’s just to funny not to share so this post is really more about poking fun at myself than anything else :)

Punisher is a seriously cool comic character but finding just the right picture so that the mural wouldn’t look like a “fan boy” poster was pretty tough. Here is what I came up with – it’s simple and graphic and I think it turned out fairly well.

airbrush mural, airbrush

The following is a list of items that I used to paint this:

  • 8 foot x 4 foot 1/4″ mesonite panel (smooth).
  • black latex house paint
  • white latex house paint
  • paint roller and tray
  • saral paper (transfer paper)
  • opaque projector
  • tape (lots of it!)
  • exacto knife.

Mistake #1:  I have to tell you the funny story that comes with these purchases.  I needed supplies so I went to home depot on a saturday (mistake) afternoon and picked up the masonite and the house paints which were quart size.  Now, that masonite stuff is a PAIN to move!! It’s only 1/4 inch thick so it’s really floppy and it’s super smooth on one side too so that makes it slippery.  I had gone to the store by myself and was struggling to get it all up to the till without being able to put in a cart – but I made it.  I asked the lady to put the paint in plastic bags (doubled) so I could struggle with the masonite without worrying about those.

When I got outside it was windy (as it always is here) and I found myself wrestling with that stupid giant piece of board FOR MY LIFE!!  I swear it was like a sail!  But, I’m the determined type so I fought and snarled and inched my way towards the truck.  Then …. the unthinkable.  With all the wrestling and fighting the plastic bags with the paint broke open and my quarts of paint went crashing to the asphalt.  The black one (of course) burst open and sprayed goopy paint all over me and the truck and the car next to it.  I of course did exactly what was required at the time and burst into tears.

Luckily, some of the boys in home depot saw my catastrophe and came to save me (I think they were originally watching and laughing).  All was fine at the end – but my hubby did an 10102039 point inspection on the interior and exterior of the truck when I got home to make sure I got every spec of paint off.

Anyway …. I was writing a tutorial, right?

OK…

Step 1:

The first thing I needed was a suitable picture to work from … as you may know, I can paint, but I most certainly cannot draw so I NEED a reference photo.  This one here is nice and simple which will make the job a bit easier.

Step 2:

Next I used a roller and tray to paint the entire masonite panel black.  I built the color up in lots of light layers as opposed to slopping it all on in a hurry because I wanted the paint to be really sturdy.  The board is very flexible so light layers will prevent it from cracking as it bends when it is moved.

BE SURE TO PAINT THE EDGES!!

The edges of the masonite are going to show when you mount this on the wall.  It may only be 1/4 inch … but forgetting to paint them would look really really bad.  (Mistake #2: can you tell that I forgot to paint them)

Step 3:

Then I used my opaque projector to transfer the image show in step one on to sheets of saral paper.  This was a little tricky to be honest.  The projector only projects at a 90 degree angle (i.e. on to a wall) but at the moment, I did not want to put holes in the masonite to mount it to the wall because I didn’t know where the holes would interfere with the design AND the damn floppy masonite won’t stand up on it’s own.

To get around this I (brilliantly) just taped the saral paper (which is simple just a transfer paper) up to the wall and traced directly on to it.  I had to tape lots of pieces together because the image was to be life size – but it worked out OK in the end.  And yet another mistake … make sure you put something BEHIND the saral paper so you don’t transfer the image to the wall you taped it to.  Whoops. (it comes off with soapy water).

Step 4:

DAMMIT!!!! As you can see the next step is another mistake!! I don’t what got into me this job!!

What I was trying to do was the next step …. which was to place the saral paper from the previous step onto the black panel and trace the image again so that the image would then be transfered to the board.  Seems simple enough.  Well … foot prints friggin everywhere.  All I can say is I am glad this was a freebie and not a paying customer.

Step 5:

Next I taped all of the areas I wanted to remain black off with painters tape.  I used both thick 2″ tape for the larger areas trimming them as necessary with an exacto knife and thin 1/4″ tape for the lining details.  1/4″ tape is available at the hardware store but can sometimes be hidden.  It usually comes in cellophane bags and is hanging on an isle end.

Bet you thought I made it through a step without a mistake!!  RIGHT???  Well, you know better than to be disappointed by me.  Of COURSE I made a mistake!!  Look At All That Tape?!?  What on earth possessed me to stick it all over everything in the room?!?

Step 6:

Next I added some tape in little jagged circles to make bullet holes and then used several different shades of gray (using the black and white latex paint) to blot on a grey background.  The background is supposed to be a concrete wall so I wanted lots of texture.  I used rags and paper towels to dab the paint on and make a really grainy effect. (PS: If I did this with my airbrush I would probably still be there)

Mistake? All I can say is it’s a good thing the carpet in that room is gray.

Step 7:

After painting the background there really wasn’t that much black showing through to paint.  Just the white on his chest, the flesh of his face and arms, highlights on the pants and details on the guns.  Surprisingly this step as MISTAKE FREE!!! Yippeee.

Step 8: LAST ONE

airbrush mural, airbrush

The last step is always my favorite part!  Removing all that tape!  Above is what the end result looked like before I cleared it.  All I used to clear it was a rattle can of matte clear varnish.  I wanted it matte so that it wouldn’t glare on the wall and so the concrete would still look rough.

Last Words:

I hope that seeing me screw up right, left and center encourages you to go ahead and make your own mistakes and maybe… just maybe… be a little easier on yourself when you do make them.

Share your big screw ups (you know, the ones that are funny in retrospect) below in the comments :)