In this How-To I will create a life size '53 Corvette Trompe L'oeil that will be used as a photo prop. All the steps and procedures would be the same for a wall mural with one exception. If it were a mural I would have to paint within the outline of the car. ( I know '53 Vettes only came in white, but sometimes we bend the rules to give the customer what they want).

Materials Used: Behr flat interior paint, S-H-790 Black Suede, and S-G 390 Lemon Zest. Airbrush paints. For this project I used Createx Opaque White, and Com-Art Opaque Black, a black and a red permanent marker, as well as a special blend of Com-Art blues for the chrome that will be explained a little later.

Tools: Various paint brushes from 4 inch to detail size. A good double action airbrush such as the Iwata H-P BCS or something comparable ( for this mural I used a Peak C-5 ). An air source such as an air compressor with a good pressure regulator. I generally spray at approximately 30 psi and regulate the pressure down as low as 5 psi for fine detail work. A projector to get the image onto the surface.

Surface: Most murals are painted directly onto the wall, or onto canvas that is later attached to the wall with adhesive, but this was a temporary mural to be used as a photo prop and was painted on a 4 foot by 8 foot 2 inch thick sheet of pink foam insulation prepped with 2 coats of white Aqua-Bond paint.

I begin by projecting my reference image and lightly penciling the entire outline. I next go back over the projected image and lightly pencil in the outlines of the shadows and highlights. And lastly, I pencil in the outlines of the details such as the chrome reflections of the grill and headlights. Take your time at this point and get as much detail information recorded into your initial drawing as possible.Don't worry too much about those headlights at this point, just be sure to leave the projector in place for now.

I begin by masking off the areas I don't want yellow with a clear shelf liner adhesive paper. It's quicker and easier to apply the film and cut it to fit the area with an x-acto than to carefully paint around everything. Once it's masked I paint all of the body with the flat yellow paint using a regular paintbrush. As I said before, this will be a cut-out, so I'm not concerned about staying inside the outer lines.

Next I paint all of my solid black areas with the flat interior paint using a regular paintbrush.

The headlights on this car are incredibly detailed and I could easily spend a day just painting them......but I won't. Instead, I get my black permanent marker out and turn on the projector again. With the marker I quickly go over the small squiggles and lines that make up the dark areas of the lights. Sometimes it helps me to squint my eyes so I can just pick out the general shapes. What you end up with is something that resembles ancient hieroglyphics, but it works in the end, as you will see.

*****NOTE**** When using the permanent markers you should wear a respirator or work in a well ventilated area.

Again with the projector back on I grab my black and red markers and "paint" the license plate and the Vette emblem. As a note here, I do not copy the emblem exactly because it a copyrighted trademark of General Motors and I would have to be a Corvette Artist licensed through G.M. to legally replicate it. So, I paint a couple of squiggly flags just so you get the idea.

I've finished adding the solid black areas in the bumpers and it's time for the airbrush. I spray Com-Art Opaque Black very lightly, going back and forth, building up the shadows gradually on the body of the car and in the chrome areas as well.

The colors I used to create the chrome blue are Com-Art colors as follows listed in largest amount to least amount: Opaque Repro Cyan, Opaque white, Transparent Royal Blue, Transparent Ochre, Transparent Ultra Marine, and finally Transparent Smoke. You can use any blue you like, but this mix comes out quite convincing. I spray this right over the black, which only adds more depth to the reflected shadows.

Next I add the reflective "Hot Spots" of white. Starting near the surface I begin to spray a small amount of white. As I continue to spray I increase the flow of paint by pulling back further and further on the trigger while at the same time pulling the Airbrush further and further away from the surface. This is where the painting really begins to "pop", be sure to add plenty of "Bling-Bling" with these highlighted hotspots. I also add some "star" shaped hot spots for some of the larger reflections.

Using the same methods described earlier I create the front windshield. I waited until this time to do that because the reference photo I was using had the windshield much smaller because of the camera angle. I had to get all of my other projecting, such as that headlight trick, done before I moved the projector back to enlarge this area. Also I painted the area seen behind the left tire by spraying a light mist of White and Ochre and added the edge tread to the tire by spraying the same white mix. Also there's a very faint thin line of the white sprayed on the right side to barely suggest the outline of that tire.

Here's a picture of one of my Sons seated in the final cut-out. He's a little frustrated that the engine won't start.

But at least he can send cool pictures of himself to all his friends.

Have fun with this as you create your own murals and theatrical cutouts.