Our Lady of Mercy School Mural
MURAL (2018)
Client
From Our Lady of Mercy School's principal: "Our Lady of Mercy Elementary School is an exciting place to learn and grow for children Kindergarten to 7th grade! The students are why we are here. We believe in teaching the whole child; nurturing and guiding each one to reach his/her potential academically, spiritually, physically and socially. We strive to create an environment where students feel safe, comfortable, and respected."
Project
The client wished to incorporate artwork on the front wall of the school building which measured 9x19 feet or 274x610cm .
The illustration must effectively portray the school's values: learning, responsibility, compassion, generosity, and laughter. The client wished to depict the students exemplifying these concepts in a "whimsical" fairytale-like art style.
Tools: ADOBE | Photoshop, Illustrator
Challenge
How can all the school’s values be effectively communicated while being integrated into a single artwork using a fairytale’s visual style?
Solution
Using a children’s playground as inspiration, it served as the overarching structure and foundation for the entire artwork. The playground was divided into sections or hubs:
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The tower to serve as a reading nook, illustrating learning
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The stairs with a boy carrying books to show responsibility
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The bridge and the two children to depict compassion
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The pillars with the fruit trees for generosity
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The field and mountains with children playing soccer for laughter
There were elements added from the actual structure of Our Lady of Mercy’s church. These would be the grotto and the bell tower. To show the childrens’ imagination at play, certain areas were exaggerated in a whimsical way, such as: the stars in the reading nook, the ancient library by the stairs, the waterfall and bridge by the grotto, the garden under the bell tower, and the large valley by the mountains
Concept ideation overview
A more detailed sketch of the second concept
Process
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Project prompt meeting
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Ideation sketch drafting with color sample
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Illustration proposal and confirmation
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​Digital rendering
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First draft (black and white) presentation and color assessment
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Color application rendering
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Mock up rendering
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Raster to vector artwork conversion
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Illustration complete
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Printer’s apply artwork to school building
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Project completion
The drafts with the notes and updated concept sketch