Mascots are objects, animals or persons used to symbolize a group with public identity like brand name, military unit, society, professional sports team and school. They are usually confused with their team nicknames, although they could be interchangeable at times. These can adopt the form of costumed characters, inanimate objects, live animals, persons or logos.

Schools display the images all across the campus for increasing morale of students or reminding visitors of their current location. Their costumes are worn usually during social and sports events and others paint school mascot murals on walls where everyone can see them. Here are a few things to do when you plan or were assigned on creating one.

Make sure the wall where you will paint the murals is clean and does not have any structural problems or moisture damage. If you notice some cracks, spackle them but sometimes it has hidden issues which will cause cracks again eventually. Check closely for the presence of grease, oil, wax, dirt or mold and clean them thoroughly.

Prime the wall because it would help in letting the paint stick more easily and could be applied directly over already existing drawings. Although if you want your mural to last longer then some preparatory measures should be done before painting. Acrylic coats adhere better and longer when the existing ones are stripped with sanding block dip in a mild solution to lessen the dust.

Let the wall dry properly and apply the acrylic primer after on its entirety and you may start painting now directly. You can also add texture like applying plaster and create an intriguing surface although its effect to the final result is unsure. If your preference is painting on unstretched canvass then glue it on first before you painted on it.

When painting, sketch your design first based on your prepared image and enlarge it with techniques like grid method or art projector using a pencil. After having an outline then begin underpainting that consists of huge blocks of color which more details will be painted over later. Then use mural techniques, similar to painting ones, to put the details.

Sponging is good for creating texture like clouds on the sky and leaves on trees and a color could be sponged on another to create more depth. This technique is useful for quickly filling colors in large areas. Wet your sponge first then squeeze excess water out and lightly dip it to the paint, softly blot it on some paper to avoid overloading of paint.

Stippling is done through applying thin coats of either a lighter shade or darker one over a dried underpainting. Use stippling brush while that new coat is still wet and dab it around until the new layer is stippled. The result would not look brushed if done correctly and some underpainting will be seen.

When you are finished making your mural, next is to protect it and ensure its beauty stays longer by sealing it. Apply an isolation coat and varnish with matte or satin sheen because glossy ones are too reflective. Check its bottle for instructions about the right ratio with water before applying it.