Rolling it out!
Today I want to discus how I utilize rollers to help me paint murals. It can be really nice to see the paint go up so fast and I have found that it is a great way to engage your body in the early stages of the paint process. This can come in handy especially if you are not totally sure where the project is going. There are a zillion aspects to fully comprehend the roller technique. House painters have figured out all kinds of tricks and tips over the years. I am only going to talk about the stuff I have found useful in my work.
Nap is what they call the thickness of the roller pad. Some are thick and apply extreme amounts of paint and some are very thin, subsequently applying thin doses of paint. The difference is based on how textured (or rough) the wall surface is. For example, stucco needs a very thick nap. Dry wall uses a normal–thin nap. I usually have a few of each type in one of my totes at any given time. I do not roll out walls for every job so I am not particular with the brand. Usually I just grab the value pack at my local paint store.
Most of the time I am not painting full walls but smaller sections of the wall depending on what the specific artwork calls for. For that reason I recommend getting a few of the smaller 4 and 6 inch rollers. They are great at blocking in smaller sections. You can certainly use a brush for this, but there are some great advantages to using a roller. Rollers apply a thin even coat, this can save money by not using too much paint and time by reducing the need to brush on large sections.
There are some accessories to roller painting I find super helpful. A two-foot extender is a must. They screw on the bottom of your roller and allow you to use new and exciting muscle sets. Very important! You can go to your local paint store and buy a new one, but I recommend you search for one at a flea market or an estate sale. Why is this? The feel of a wood extender that has seen many paint projects has an effect on my subconscious. I know in the back of my brain somewhere I am feeling all the projects that came before. It is a simple thing to feel but all the little things add up. Also they don’t really break. The same goes for trays and cleaners. The trays they made 40 years ago are rusty and old but they still work just fine. Throw a coat of primer on them and they are as good as new. The plastic ones are junk and made for one use. Don’t buy them. They also make this tool for cleaning the roller. This is what mine looks like. To use it, you just sort of squeegee off the paint and wash like a normal brush. Pretty handy eh.
The fan method of roller painting is pretty useful I also feel it comes pretty intuitively. That’s where you just fan out subsequent roller passes so that paint does not just sit at the two edges. This happens because paint gets squeezed to the two sides as you apply pressure. If you fan out your passes you can pick up the access paint and apply it to another section of the wall.
Blending and artistic uses for rollering are not so easy. I have experimented with multiple colors in the tray and attempting color fades using a roller. Both experiments left me going “yeah that’s never going to work”. Ultimately there is just not enough control. I have seen it used as a giant marker to make letters and designs. I find that this always looks somewhat loose. It has an unfinished quality to it.
Rollers are a must if you have a mural painting business. Hopefully these tips will help you and your future mural projects. Okay well that’s all I have on how I implement rollering into my mural practice. Hope you found it somewhat interesting and keep rollering!