A behind the scenes look at the making of Arleigh Wood’s downtown Vancouver mural

We all know that the pandemic really took a toll on hotels and downtown retail spaces but Warrington Property managers and the Vancouver Mural Festival had a vision to revitalize their spaces while supporting local talent.

Close to a dozen artists were commissioned to create murals in the interior of the mall transforming white walls into vibrant artworks that make your daily commute (back to the office) a lot more fun than pjs and zoom calls.

I loved being part of this project, bringing my colourful Geometric Series artwork to the public on a larger scale. You could say I’m hooked on “muraling” now!

We started with a digital mock up that would eventually be sized up to meet the 9 x 30 foot dimensions of the assigned wall.

All Paint colours were chosen - there were a lot of shades - luckily some paint I already had or was given to me. Supplies like my special tape and brushes were purchased and brought to the site.

The outlines of the triangles at the top were mapped out first with tape. It was at this point that I could see how the artwork was going to work on a larger scale. Time to check the proportions and make sure everything looked in balance.

Next up was the background dark blue and then sky details were adding in with layers of water-based spray paint.

After that the rest of the process is pretty much a gigantic paint by numbers where I follow the initial mockup to tell me where to place the next triangle and what colour to paint it.

Many triangles, rolls of tape and podcast episodes later the mural was complete and ready for mall wanderers to enjoy.

If you would like to commission a mural I’d love to chat - reach out here via email Arleigh

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