Process from Sketch to Final -Floral Mural for a Brooklyn Café

The following blog outlines how to design and paint a botanical mural in a business setting, from the first meeting to painting the final piece. I hope it will be useful for NYC business owners interested in the mural process; as well as for aspiring mural artists who want to see what happens behind the scenes.

Step one: a chat with the owner

It began with an informal chat with Jenny at Volare in Park Slope over a cappuccino, she let me know they wanted a dramatic, colorful floral mural on a black background, and we talked about looking at some traditional Italian art (as the cafe is Italian themed) as a spring board. After our chat, I created the below mood board, and listened to her feedback.

The mood board, a combination of modern florals and traditional Italian paintings.

Step Two: Working from fresh flowers

Jenny was on board and excited by the mood board, so I moved onto the next step and went to my local florist Zuzu’s for fresh flowers like roses and sweet peas. I took photographs of them lit from one side to mimic the Chiaroscuro Italian style (meaning light and dark) and to bring a little drama to the design. Below you can see some of the photographs.

Step Three: The Mock Up

I used Adobe Photoshop to collage together my photos of roses, sweetpeas, a butterfly and other fluffy flowers. I wanted to take a deep dive and create something really refined. Here are a few images from the development stage.

Three of the development images I created.

I settled on the above mock up, with a modern use of space and enough happening to be exciting and dynamic.

The Painting Stage

I arrived on site, walking the fifteen minutes with my trolley through Park Slope. I set up my projector to plan the design on the wall with chalk. I painted while the cafe was open - I’m a very social person so I loved getting to know locals during the five days it took to complete. Below you can see a few behind the scenes shots! And the final project is here.

The Final Steps

The mural received a great response I was over the moon with, and led to me painting this bright flower mural for a young girl’s bedroom. The client was pleased and have kindly been cheerleading me ever since!

Thank you for reading this blog, and please feel free to ask any questions in the comments!