A Wild Room for Kayson

Some dear friends of ours asked if I could paint an African scene in their new adorable baby boy's room. I wasn't sure I could do it, hadn't really ever tackled painting on such a large scale. They didn't want it to be too busy, no big jungle theme, more serene and laid back. Ok, how do I go about that? Well, after much contemplation, I decided to try drawing on a piece of wood (door skins - very thin 4x8 Sheet) rather than paint directly on the walls....a little nervous about the outcome. I started with the elephant, which to my surprise, was much easier to paint than anticipated. After painting it, I coated it with a clear varnish, then to the workshop to cut the elephant out with a jig saw. That proved to be more difficult than I thought, but in the end I managed. I then sanded the edges so that tiny fingers wouldn't end up with splinters :)  I moved on to the zebra, lion cub and a still unfinished Orangutan. The Orangutan will likely not go in the room, although he is awfully cute (I'm having a problem with his nose and other eye).  The cherry will be the mother Giraffe and her baby....If I can get them right! It is a work in progress....

I've applied the animals I've finished to the walls with a few finishing nails so that they can be removed easily if necessary. The "umbrella" trees, however, ended up being painted directly on the walls. They would have required too much cutting out to be done on the wood panels. So far, this is what it looks like.

I hope Kaysen enjoy's his "Wild" room!