Mural to Celebrate African Birthplace
Posted by M&M in Murals & Mural Projects on Mar 31, 2012
Ange, presented with her mural.
This mural, 6 foot high by 8 foot wide, is custom designed for a very special little girl named Ange to celebrate her African birthplace. Born in Rwanda during peacetime and now living in the US, Ang’s parents wanted a mural to evoke her earliest memories of her birthplace halfway around the globe.
To help me get a feel for the environment, I was given photos taken during their stay in Rwanda. We talked about the elements that were important to them, including the blue car they traveled in and a large blue gateway to the entrance where they stayed and the cityscape of Rwanda, set in the background hills.
I produced pencil sketches to start the dialogue about images and juxtapositions that would work best.
My clients agreed that the sketch was very close to what that had envisioned but they wanted to see the continent of Africa with a heart in the center, as seen in the approved sketch, below.
We always prepare a color sample and in this case, because there were so many different elements involved, I decided to produce a full color painting of the whole mural (below, right.)
Full color rendering to scale for Ange's Mural.
When we painted the actual mural on the wall, we decided to paint Africa higher up and also to use Ange’s actual hand print to indicate the placement of Rwanda. Look closely and you can see a little heart painted in her palm. Ange has recently learned the letter “A”, the first letter of her name and of her birthplace. The butterfly has special meaning for Ange, and so we painted one at about her height.
Revised and approved sketch.