Selecting a Muralist, Canvas Murals versus Onsite Murals

The internet allows millions of us to stay close to home to perform our work. This benefit of the net is no different for the entrepreneurial minded artist who would rather stay close to their home rather then travel to perform work. With the internet, artists are able to promote their work to millions of potential viewers and find work that allows them to stay close to home or travel depending on their preference. Also, the ability to create canvas murals opens up the opportunity to serve a wider audience in many locations. The flexibility offered by technology also helps you as you search for a muralist. If you can not find a local muralist, than many are available from literally around the world. But before hiring a remote artist, you should answer some questions that will make your art buying experience more enjoyable and insure you receive the mural you are expecting.

Does the artist travel? If the artist travels, how much do they charge for travel expenses?

If you desire the mural to be painted at your location, this will be an important consideration. Muralists will sometimes be willing to travel to your location. If they will travel, determine their per diem rate for travel. This rate is what they expect to be paid for lodging, food, and transportation. A per diem in the range of $75.00 to $150.00 daily can be expected. Some muralists may wrap that charge into the final quote. Ask them to break it out from the actual work bid so that you can compare actual labor costs between muralists. I have known some clients who provide lodging, food, and transportation for the muralist while they are on the job. If you are able to do this, it may be a great way to alleviate some expenses and get to know the artist at the same time.

If the artist cannot travel to your location, can the artist paint murals directly on canvas?

This is an important question if you would prefer a canvas mural or if the artist is unable to travel to your location. Keep in mind that this may require you to hire a wallpaper hanging professional. The major benefits to a mural canvas are that you can typically uninstall the mural, if properly installed, when you need to move from your current residence and you do not need to worry about having an artist in your home during the painting. The installation will take a day and will be far less of an inconvenience for you. The primary disadvantage to a canvas mural is you will be unable to view the work in progress. However, if you work out your expectations for updates, this problem is limited.

If the artist works on-site, do they work alone or do they hire help?

Some muralists hire help to complete projects. This may be to your advantage if you are on a tight time table, however you may end up paying a premium for the speed. You will want to talk with the muralist about who they hire and what their responsibilities will be on the job. If their employee does a portion of the artistic work, you will want to see slides or a portfolio for that artist.

If the work will be completed on-site, when does the artist expect to have access to your residence or office?

You should be able to set the work schedule to some extent, but expect to at least allow access during the normal business hours of 9 to 5. If you want a mural done more quickly, some muralists may be willing to work longer days and weekends. Keep in mind that muralists may not be able to work over a set number of hours daily. This is typically not because of laziness, but because each muralist will have a limited amount of creative energy they can expend in one day. Painting murals is intensively creative, and often very physically demanding, and it requires the artist to be constantly focused to achieve the best results. Each muralist will have a creative energy limit that they will need to consider when scheduling. If the artists focused limit per day is six or seven hours, than don’t expect more work in a day than they can provide. The final product will inevitably suffer as a result.

If you are in an office location, the muralist may need to work in the evening to insure no conflicts with normal business operations at your office. When you talk with the muralists, find out if they prefer working in the daytime or evening hours. Some will actually prefer the evening hours, which will be ideal for your project hours. For business locations, canvas murals are an ideal solution since the mural can be painted off-site and shipped once completed.

Find out if you will need to provide a key for access to your home or office. If you are away during the week, it may become necessary to provide a key. You will need to determine your security needs and make arrangements accordingly. Your security concerns may be another reason to ask for references.

How does the artist update me on the progress of the canvas?

Communication during the completion of a mural is important. Once an artist starts a piece, your level of input decreases substantially, but you should still be able to watch the progress. With canvas murals painted off site, the muralist should have some means of sending you images. Keep in mind that photos will often not represent the coloring of the mural accurately, but photos should give you an idea of how the piece is progressing. At the least, final images should be sent prior to the canvas mural being shipped to your location.

As discussed earlier, you will want to have some form of sketch work done prior to the start of work that both you and the artist have agreed upon. You are paying for a custom mural; if you want the Eiffel Tower in Paris, you shouldn’t be given the Statue of Liberty in Paris.

It is also important that you understand that small differences and changes will occur. The artist should be given freedom to make those changes as the work progresses. It is amazing how an image changes when it is transferred from scaled sketches to a full sized mural. If changes become frequent, then the artist should be communicating the changes with you. It is important that you talk with the artist prior to the start of the project to discuss how this communication will work.

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