Bird Mural in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

The Brief

Working for Washington Walls alongside other local Brooklyn artists, we collaborated to turn a plain intersection into an uplifting, joyous experience for the neighborhood.

I hand-painted a realistic chaffinch mural, a bird I chose as it represents resilience. In this design I wanted to balance realism with abstraction, with a realistic bird on a softer, abstract botanical background.

I began by using my virtual reality headset to quickly sketch the design onto the wall, before using high-quality exterior latex to lay down the background. I then painted the bird by layering up paint with fan brushes. Finally I used a pounce (a paper template) to add the clean white typography.

This resulted in a calming, natural design that has turned into a local selfie spot!