Tile Mural Tutorial Part 3

Number your tile left to right

Hopefully you are inspired to try painting your own tile mural and have thought of some design ideas and where in your home you would like to display it.

I have already removed the glaze from 9 pieces of tile and have rinsed them off with water and have allowed them to dry and cure for several days.

Tip: when designing and creating a tile mural it is important to number your tile pieces from left to right top to bottom prior to any sketching, transferring of design to the tile.  Numbering is your reference as to how your tile is going to be laid on the surface.  This comes in handy when you have a very detailed mural with many pieces of tile.

I have made sure that my tile is laid out neatly and aligned correctly before I begin to sketch my design on a painting surface I use to lay my tile.  I recommend that you tape your tile down with blue tape to make sure it stays in place to avoid shifting.

Nine (9) 4x4 tiles will create a mini mural size of 12 7/8 x12 7/8 to be exact.  Not a very large mural but big enough to create a nice painting.

I have decided to go with “Leaving The Nest” theme for my tile mural.  I will be free handing my design unto the tile.   But here are tips for you to follow that I use when I work on tiles for clients especially when creating large mural designs that will involve a lot of detail.

Rough sketch and draft on large craft paper

After consultation with clients and their ideas I start to create a rough sketch. Several conversations and refining sketches will be done.  Tile size, detail of design will all determine how large the mural will be.   I use graph paper and large art craft paper.  I like to work with the actual size template of the tile for better accuracy so I draw out the actual size of tile and tiles I will be using and use this as my master grid template from which I can visually work from for better detail accuracy and ref when I begin my painting on the actual tile.

 

You may have a design already planned out or a picture that you want to use for your tile mural; you will need to hand trace or photocopy your picture and  bring it to the correct size that will fit your tile dimensions. Once you have all this completed decide on the color paints you want to use for painting your tiles.  As I mentioned earlier, I'm only using fine art acrylic paints.  For these tiles I will be using DecoArt Patio Paints these are exceptional paints, which are non-toxic, adhere extremely well on tile and are meant for indoor and outdoor use. 

Next post will be painting of tile, varnishing and planning for gluing tile in place to plywood and options if you choose to tile it to your wall and how to take care of it.