My "virtual" Tuscan garden- a wall mural

The finished piece- Tuscan arch and courtyard with Butterfly Samarra in the foreground :-) The girl is real ;-)


This is my first attempt at muralling. I was in Home Stop a few weeks back when I saw a lovely set of wrought iron garden chairs and a table. They were placed on a wooden deck. There were differently themed backdrops erected behind these decks- seascapes, trees, desert scenes... I had a Eureka moment. We had just bought a new place in Koramangala and one of the balconies had a 10 ft high and 6 ft wide balcony. It would make the perfect backdrop for a "virtual" garden. Put these two chairs and the table in front of it and one could simulate the effect of sitting in a garden!

I toyed with the idea for a while, making preliminary sketches. Vivek has always been supportive of all my eccentricities. But I wondered if he would think that this was a little over the top. Surprisingly, he was thrilled with the idea. So I sauntered off to the paints shop and got myself a litre of White Apex Ultima Exterior Emulsion and several little bottles of "Staints". That is what they call the colours that are mixed with the white base to give you whatever shade you need. Now, I have never worked with house paints before and secretly feared that at the end of it all, I would be left with a really pretty wall mural but conked out kidneys! But some intense research later, I was convinced that the paints and their negligible fumes were safe. I set to work.

I am going to guide you through the process ( many friends liked the finished work and expressed interest in how it was done. Some folks wanted to try it at home on their own walls. The Magnanimous Oormila is only happy to share the tips. Please DO try this stunt at home. It is perfectly safe)



First, I took a big red crayon and drew the picture on the wall. I felt like a mischievous 3 year old The last time I scrawled on a wall like this with a red crayon, I got a spanking and a red bottom...
I didn't go into too many details at this point. Kept it simple.




Next, I worked on the bricks. I used shades of brown. I also worked on the wall and marked out a bit of foliage on the left.



I wanted a view inside the arch. So, I sketched out some trees in the distance and marked the horizon and sky.





I see some pretty trees with pink flowers on the inner ring road everyday on my cross country fro Banswadi to Koramangala. I have painted that on the right. To make the trees and the foliage on the left seem 3-D, I have given a grey shadow to the left.


I have put some white flowers on the shrubs on the left.


Okay, now for the gutsy part- get on a high stool and paint the top of the wall. I also drew cobble stones and have done a rough underpainting in dark brown.





Final stage- I deepened the shadows thrown by the tree and the shrubs. And I made the cobble stones more even.




Tada! Enjoy your virtual garden! Here I have asked my little girl to stand in front of the mural to give you and idea of perspective and scale...