The painting on the wall

The next time your child does a Picasso on your freshly-painted wall, don’t blow a gasket. After all, if cave people could be painting on their walls back in the days in 30,000BC, taking a few stray crayons to the wall should not be considered vandalism.

Just gently give a few pointers on art and a bigger wall to paint on, for wall murals by children are something the city is seeing more of. Painting a mural can be a great way to introduce your children to art.

Typically, one can let a child use acrylic paint, clay, enamel, a base of plain white wash or even a collage of colourful paper cuttings. And it’s a good start to teaching creative skills to a child and an even better way to spend some quality time and bond with your child.

Benefits package
A mural is a great way for a child to engage in art and to understand concepts like dimensions, proportions, colour schemes and so on. Also, the child gets to learn that this medium can be used as a tool of communication.

Based on concepts and themes, murals provide a platform for visual communication and help children develop an understanding for different cultures in society.

“Mural paintings come handy when you want to give a social message or create social awareness amongst people. The paintings on walls around the city that say save water or avoid cutting down of trees are all examples of mural art,” says Ashok Kumar, director, AKR School of Art.

But a mural is not only a visual message board. “Abstract art is also welcome in murals as it’s not about what you draw, it is about how you draw it,” says Sashidhar CS, founder, Virtuosos Palette Art School. “Children draw what they perceive.

Mural art helps them to understand the concepts of art. They understand the difference of 2D and 3D art. A 2D art in mural painting is represented by lines whereas a third dimension gives a feel of the object. A well-defined 3D shape can be achieved by different grades of shading light, deep and very deep,” says Sashidhar.

Painting a mural on his or her own room helps a child create a colourful, playful environment and make the room more personal.

“This helps children understand the use of colour, conceptualise shapes and understand the art form. Mural paintings are considered to be the best mode of expression for children. As they are made by children themselves, they relate to their paintings and are very close to them,” says Kumar.

Saranima Som, owner, Art and Craft India suggests giving a child free reign when it comes to choosing colours as it instills in children a sense of colour schemes. Let them use waste plastic or cardboard for their collages, she says. “Reusing materials instills a sense of responsibility towards the environment,” says Som.

Going about it
“Mural paintings are done on huge surfaces — mostly walls — and hence there is a large area for children and immense freedom to paint what they imagine. Even scribbles on the wall with crayons can be conceptualised and repainted as murals,” says Kumar.

So what are the children painting the town with? “Children love to paint murals of landscapes, human figures and cartoon characters,” Som. “They experiment with bright colours on murals and love using colourful paper — marble paper or handmade paper — for their collages,” adds Som. So set aside colourful paper — paper bags, magazines, glossy pages from newspaper, wrapping paper from presents — for a child to make collages out of.

Of course, what children love most is getting their hands dirty on the paint and having a go without a brush in sight. “There are no rules in mural art. Kids use their hands to paint on the walls and one thing they love is to give hand impressions on the wall. They tend to enjoy it most when their clothes and hands are soiled with paint,” chuckles Som.