“I Think I Can, I Think I Can” pretty much sums up how I was feeling as I continued to pick up steam…and inspiration, for more train murals. At this point, I had just finished painting a train station in the entry way of the Kid’s Ministry area at my church, when someone handed me a stack of books. He was a serious railway buff and thought I wouldn’t mind seeing some of the stuff he had. Wow! It was exactly what I needed to get me going! Even though my murals were cartoon style, I sketched out a train from one of the book covers and painted my first train in the Preschool classroom. It was an older looking train with lots of character. Keeping with our theme, I called it “The Grace Express.”
The Inspiration
This book cover was the Inspiration
Personalize the mural
Knowing they were going to put foam tiles on the floor in primary colors, I tried working in as many colors as I could into this mural to tie it in. When I was done with the train, I used a sponge to paint the ground below. I used a mustard color to reinforce the fact we’re in the Arizona desert, giving it a dry grass look. I then got even more specific, and painted a water tower with the town name “Goodyear” splashed across the front. I always try to personalize my murals when ever possible, and the tower was the perfect opportunity.
Fill in the gaps
A few randomly placed telephone poles completed the landscape for this mural. Even though my train tracks were…well…a bit off track, I was still pretty happy with how this room turned out in the end. It gave me the boost of confidence needed for all the other train murals to come. Be sure to check out how I was able to find inspiration to fill many more walls. I went from saying “I think I can, I think I can” to “I KNOW I can.” You can almost hear the train whistle blowing. Toot toot!
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