Welcome to my diary of creating my mural for Bright Walls. This post will give you a behind-the-scenes look into what it’s like to paint a mural and my experience bringing this 89-foot beauty to life! (And let me tell you, it was a bit of a rollercoaster!)

If you want to learn more about my overall experience at the Bright Walls mural festival in Jackson, Michigan, check out part one of this series in this blog post! In that post, I share more of my experience at the festival itself, and in this post, I’ll be sharing how the mural was created.

Painting a mural is a huuuuge undertaking, and it’s very different from my normal painting process. I'm still getting used to the idea of calling myself a muralist, but my experience at Bright Walls has helped me feel much more confident in claiming that title!

Since I’m new to this medium, I was sure to give myself a lot of grace when it came to creating my wall. I learned so much in the six days it took to create this mural, and I know that my technique will only get better with each wall I paint in the future!

Now, let’s dive into the behind-the-scenes look at my mural process! When I paint a canvas, I think of the stages of that painting in layers. Since mural painting is on a much larger scale, I am going to break the painting process down into days rather than layers.

Day 1: Spray paint is life!

About the composition of the piece

Prior to coming to the event, I received a photo of the empty wall so I could start to plan out my composition.

Then I used my iPad to create a mock-up of what I was envisioning. Since the wall was long, I wanted to explore going from light to rainbow to dark. I decided to use a solid color for the top left and bottom right of the composition, in order to give the viewer's eye a place to rest.

Prepping for the festival

Right before I was set to fly to Jackson for the festival, I found out that my planned assistant wouldn't be able to help me. This made me a little nervous because with such a big wall ahead of me, I knew I would absolutely need help.

Before hopping on my plane, I sent a quick message to my childhood bestie, Amber, who lives a couple of hours from Jackson. When I landed I was thrilled to see that she would be able to come and help me out on my first day. This was so special because we don't get to see each other that often, so we got to catch up!

Why is everyone else using spray paint?

Upon arrival, I went into the paint stock room and noticed very quickly that most EVERYONE was using spray paint instead of latex paint (like me). I instantly wondered what they all knew that I didn't! 🤣

The painting begins!

Amber and I tackled the center portion of the wall first where I planned to paint rainbow brushstrokes. The wall was made of textured cement blocks and we quickly learned that we had to go over an area a couple of times to make sure to fill in all of the small holes. I realized THIS is why the other artists were using spray paint.

I wanted to start with the center of the piece so that anyone walking by could envision what I was going for from the start. I was a little nervous to work on such a large piece publicly (especially while it's in its awkward teenage phase!) but I had to set those worries aside and keep cranking out the piece if I wanted to finish on time!

The end of Day 1

Day 1 was exhausting, but I was feeling so excited about where the mural was headed. I was so thankful to have Amber there with me on the first day. It was wonderful to have a friend in my corner! Sadly, she wasn’t able to stick around after Day 1 and I was so sad to see her go, but so grateful for all of her help!

To celebrate the start of my mural, I headed out to happy hour with the other muralists and was simply blown away by the amount of talent I was surrounded by!

The takeaway from Day 1:

Be teachable! Don't let inexperience stop you from going for it. Ask questions and use the experience to learn along the way. For example, I noticed that most every other artist was using spray paint, so I asked questions and learned that spray paint would be twice as fast as using the latex paint I planned on using!

Day 2: My amazing support team

An early start to the day

Since I was jet-lagged I was able to use this to my advantage and get to my wall bright and early on Day 2. The stock room had massive amounts of leftover spray paint from years prior at our disposal, so I headed straight there and grabbed what I could.

With Amber now gone, I was trying to keep cool and trust that I could progress effectively on this wall on my own. But I didn’t have to go at it alone for long! On Day 2 I learned that I'd have a new assistant to help me tackle this monster of a wall and I was so relieved and grateful for the help!

My incredible assistant!

Enter Kate Damich of @speakingofdiy fame. Kate is a DIY influencer who is a self-proclaimed maximalista and lover of colors and patterns. Not only was she resourceful, but so generous with her time to spend the week with me. I honestly couldn't have dreamed up a better person to tackle this mural with. She just got it right from the get-go!

Since I had tackled a good portion of the middle of the wall the previous day, Kate and I headed to the right end of the wall to tackle the top half!

I also had help from my friend Emily K. who thrives on making things look clean. She helped clean up any and all areas that needed a touch-up throughout the mural painting process!

Meeting with a longtime licensing partner

I ended the day with dinner with a longtime collaborator of mine, my friends at Mead Cambridge. <3 I was beyond honored that they drove up from Illinois to have dinner with me! We had a lot of great laughs, and it was so wonderful to connect in person!

The takeaway from Day 2:

Trust others to help! I was worried that I would have to tackle the wall alone, but Kate came in to save the day! I quickly recognized her talent and trusted her to help bring my vision to life, and (spoiler alert!) she delivered!

Day 3: Advocating for my vision

When Day 3 began, I was feeling good about the progress I was able to make with Kate from the day before! And the best news from Day 3 was that I was able to acquire a respirator so I wouldn't pass out from the paint fumes!

Staying true to my vision

I had envisioned the right side of the painting to have a moody feel and the turquoise color I had selected on the bottom right of the piece wasn't as dark as I was envisioning.

So I made the decision to request a darker color. I'm so happy that I asked as it was closer to the shade I was envisioning. The amount of contrast it added was perfection!

Once the turquoise blue was replaced with a deeper blue, I went in and added the flowers. I wasn't exactly sure how these would translate to the piece from the mock-up, so I wanted to go ahead and put them on quickly in case I needed to make a last-minute change. I was SOOO happy with how they turned out. They added such a lovely graphic element to the piece.

Kate and I cheers’d the end of the day with beer from a local Jackson brewery, Ogma Brewing Co. The beers and food were delicious and a fabulous treat to celebrate the end of Day 3.

The takeaway from Day 3:

Think on your feet and trust your gut. If something isn't working, don't hesitate to go ahead and be decisive about making a change from the original plan.

Day 4: Creative flow & focus

On Day 4, I was in the ZONE! I was feeling the pressure as I knew it was my last day to get the majority of the mural done before the festival started. Once the festival officially started there would be thousands of spectators walking by, so this was my time to make it work! This mural is truly brought to you by Beyonce’s Renaissance album which kept my going (and dancing) when it was time to get in the painting zone.

Day 4 was the first day that the sun came out, but I had my sun hat ready to go and kept painting away! I didn't do much documenting on this day, just a whooooole lotta painting.

On this day I started to tackle the left side of the wall to bring it all together!

My day of focus paid off because around 5pm I could really start to see how the whole piece was going to work together! The majority of the big elements were laid out on this day, so Day 5 and 6 would be for focusing on the finishing touches and details!

The takeaway from Day 4:

It’s amazing how much you can accomplish when you’re focused and in the zone!

Day 5: Finishing touches

Day 5 was the official first day of the Bright Walls festival! I had a busy day ahead of me with TV interviews and artist panels, but there was still lots to do when it came to finishing the mural. I didn’t get quite as much time as I would have liked to paint on Day 5 with all the excitement, so by the end of the day, Kate and I decided that in order to get as much done as possible we’d need to work late into the night.

(All while still having fun, of course!)

The takeaway from Day 5:

Sometimes it’s worth it to put in long hours when you’re on a deadline!

Day 6: The Finale!

Day 6 was the first full day of the festival. This was the day when I decided that I would FINISH – and I did! There always comes a time when you’re working on a piece that you have to decide when to stop. In abstract painting, it can be easy to want to keep adding more, more, more! And even though I’ve been a professional artist for years, I’m still learning when to stop!

I’m so happy with how the mural turned out! It was a long six days, but it was so worth it. I made amazing connections and spent the week surrounded by inspiring artists. I couldn’t be happier to have had this opportunity!

Et voilà! The final piece!

I am so proud of the final piece! This was the largest thing I’ve ever painted, and it felt like such a huge accomplishment to finish it.

I couldn’t have done it without my amazing support system; My painting assistants, my parents (who came all the way from Indiana to cheer me on!), the Bright Walls organizers, and the people of Jackson who were SO kind to stop by throughout the week to share encouraging words, gifts, and delicious food!

Thank you for running this marathon with me. It was amazing having so many people cheering me on via Instagram and in person! If you want to hear more about the Bright Walls festival itself, check out part one of this blog post where I share more about my experience at Bright Walls!

xo, Jessi

My Mural Process: A Behind the Scenes Look at What it Takes to Paint a Mural