Hi I am about to paint a large wall mural in my daughters bedroom any suggestions on the best type of paint to use and any good uk suppliers.

thanks

I would first paint the wall with matt emulsion.and use acrylic paint to make it an easy task.
A box of the main colours in large tubes would be a good option then you can mix other shades from this.unless you only have a few colours that you need then buying colours indvidually won't work out too expensive. http://www.artdiscount.co.uk
or http://www.ziggyart.co.uk
or even Ebay sometimes has some.

What's the Theme sounds great fun

I did cartoon murals for my childrens' bedrooms and used Early Learning Centre poster paints on top of the magnolia emulsion which was already on the walls. I used them mainly because I had them in the house already for the kids but in fact they worked very well and are a very cheap and easy way to cover a large area.

I'm sure Wendy's solution works too (and is definitely a more professional suggestion), the only thing I'd say about using acrylics is they will probably be harder to paint over when (and with kids you know it is when, not if) they eventually tire of the painting and want rid of it. My middle daughter (age 7) has a painting I did of sleeping beauty dancing with her prince and she wants it painted over as she says she sees them moving in the dark and it gives her bad dreams. I'm gutted as I was (and still am!) really pleased with it!!!

Elise

I painted Yoda from Star Wars on my boys' bedroom wall. The local DIY store was a great help - buying sample sized pots cheaply. You can get some pretty funky colours too (depending on the manafacturer) Having cheap fun with paint is great.
Just remember to hide away the black markers - Yoda now looks like Groucho Marx !

have fun !

when i worked as a signwriter we did everthing with gloss paints bought from diy stores then mixed with turps to water down, acrylic paints should be just as good and not as smelly ( i like the fumes tho)



http://markcrossey.theartistsweb.co.uk

I have painted loads of murals in the past, both professionally and for my own kids (and grandkids).

Acrylics are definitely the best to use, and as Wendy says, an emulsion ground is best. I always preferred a matt emulsion for the ground, as there's no sheen, but silk is ok.

Acrylics can be easily painted over with ordinary emulsion when you (or the child) gets fed up of the mural. It's best to use relatively thin paint for the mural, so that the wall remains smooth. In this case, cheaper paints are sometimes best.

If you have large areas of one colour, emulsions mix quite well with acrylics. Check the sheen of the acrylic paint if you are mixing with emulsions; some acrylics are matt and some have a bit of a silk sheen, so match your emulsion accordingly. I always used to use white emulsion for mixing.

You can use a waterbased varnish to protect the finished artwork if you like. I wouldn't use solvent based because it yellows and will be difficult to paint over at a later date.

Good luck with the mural, they are fun to paint. Enjoy!