The Making of a Mural
A recently completed mural at Seacliff Village (Seacliff Park, South Australia) Photo by Stephanie Rose of Muse Haus Studio.
I completed a mural last month that pushed me stylistically.
We spent months in the design phase, finessing the elements to create a piece that would complement its surroundings and speak to the colours, forms and elements of the area.
I always start my mural designs in a sketchbook- even the ones that end up being 240sqm in scale! Despite a large part of my design process existing digitally these days, the overall idea of composition and flow is still fleshed out in the pages of my sketchbook. With a fine art practice running parallel to my commercial mural projects, I have the ability to experiment and explore concepts on a smaller scale before taking them onto the screen (using Adobe Illustrator or Procreate). I am excited by the prospect of emulating the details and textures that I am able to create on canvas or paper to a greater scale.
Below are some examples of artworks that explored similar themes to the Seacliff Village Mural:
With all of my mural projects, I am primarily considering how the murals will be interacted with; will they be in an intimate garden space, viewed from a great distance or a design that is walked past on the daily and can be seen up close? I often look directly to the surrounding environment- the recurring shapes or characteristic elements, colours or textures- for clues on what to incorporate. A sense of place is important in both my murals and paintings.
View of the South-West facing side of the wall. Photo by Stephanie Rose of Muse Haus
Seeing the mural come together on site felt like a natural extension of those early sketchbook pages, just amplified in scale and context. What started as loose ideas and intuitive mark-making evolved into something much more considered, while still holding onto that sense of movement and softness that I’m always chasing in my work.
This project pushed me to refine how I translate my studio practice into large-scale environments, particularly in the way I approach texture, layering and restraint. It’s something I’m continuing to explore, and I can already feel it influencing the next body of work- including my paintings on canvas.
If you’ve been following along for a while, you may have seen this evolution of my murals over the past seven years. If you have ever considered a mural for your space and would like to discuss your ideas, you can view more projects on my murals page (and use the fill out form to get in touch) or contact me directly via email hello@nicoleblack.com.au