This Monterey Bay inspired Ocean Mural nursery was so much fun to create! I often write how much I love certain projects, but I REALLY LOVED this one! From the pre-planning to the execution, this project allowed me to take on new challenges. I was able to paint sea otters, seals, sea turtles, kelp, rocks, birds, and starfish all in one piece!

My clients were expecting their first child and wanted to create an under water scene in their nursery. They had great memories of traveling to Monterey Bay together and they loved sea otters and sea turtles. After discussing their vision, we decided to have the mural painted with a side view of the water, where we could have animals above and below the water line. They wanted to make sure the mural was not "cartoony," so I spent a good amount of time collecting reference materials of real otters and undersea creatures.

The project took me six and a half days to complete, plus a day for priming and planning. My clients had given me dimensions of the room, but to my surprise, the ceiling was much higher than I had imagined. It may be hard to tell in the pictures, but the room felt grand and gave me a lot of extra space to have a scene above and below the water line. I sketched out the vision for the nursery and created space for the crib and changing table to go per my client's instructions. Making sure to plan for furniture is always important. I didn't want to spend a lot of time working on the detail of a sea otter if we were only going to cover it up with a crib. You can also get creative with a piece of furniture and have otters or fish peaking over or around a certain piece.

Once the room was primed and the sketch complete, I started painting the sky. I worked my way from the top of the mural to the bottom. Luckily for me, most of the detail happened in the ocean and I didn't need to worry about moving a ladder so much.

Take a look at the step by step process below! Thank you so much for checking it out! I would love to hear from you! If you are interested in connecting or contacting me about a commission painting, click here! Have a fabulous day!

Ocean Mural by Julie Ann McKevitt | Atlanta Artist

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Monterey Bay Ocean Mural for a Nursery