Murals, walls and shutters

The commission process always starts with a no-obligation visit. We meet each other in the location. You, me and a sketch book and throw some themes around. If by the end of that meeting, an idea is forming, then I can continue to price for the job, but if not that's fine too. There's no cost incurred at this stage.

Pricing

As with any job, pricing is based on materials and labour. Materials is easy to calculate, paint costs around £6 per square-metre. Labour is charged at a day-rate and time depends on the complexity of the image.

If you want to keep within a small budget then an image with fewer small details is the way to go. Simple images are efficient and quick to execute but still a fun and effective way to bring life to a dull wall. On the opposite end of the scale, the most complex things to include are detailed lettering (typography/sign-writing) and anatomy (characters, animals, people and faces). These take more time because our human brains are very good at spotting when these don't look quite right. Nobody wants a rushed portrait mural where the eyes are wonky. Or lettering with inconsistent spacing that makes it clunky to read. So it's important to be sparing with these things if the budget is to be kept under control.

Other factors that affect a job is surface preparation (will the wall need priming in a neutral colour before the artwork can be applied) and accessibility (will I need to hire scaffolding or a scissor lift).

Finally, I will consider a discount if the wall is in a prime public location that will be good promotion for my services.

Let's talk

The best way to prepare for a conversation with any artist is to first do the following three things:

1. Measure the area you want painting and take a photo of the surface texture.
2. Browse previous examples of work and pick a few that are the kind of thing you want.
3. Decide what the maximum budget you'd be happy to pay is. Doing this before a conversation clears up a lot of potential confusion.