The Making of a Trompe L’oeil Mural

In 2013, we were asked to create custom mural as part of a historic hotel renovation in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  The mural, designed to recreate the look and feel of a turn of the century  hotel was to be a backdrop for the main check in desk at the hotel.  The design was an elaborate series of wood shelving, 15′ x 35′  filled with vintage luggage  as would have been the case in the period.  Our company completed the project from design through output, including original  photography and computer design, through the final printing on digital wallpaper.

The process involved each trunk, suitcase and hat box being photographed individually and in a variety of angles and positions, then digitally rendered. In the meantime, the structure for each individual shelf unit was created digitally and life-like wood textures were overlaid on the design.  Like a puzzle, the individual suitcases were then digitally added to the shelves and additional shadows were introduced to enhance realism. Luggage stickers were also created representing the locations of other properties owned by the client.

Once the digital file was completed, we used pigmented inks to print directly onto 50″ x 15′ wallpaper media, then coated those with a UV overspray, packaged them up and shipped them to the location for final installation. The full duration of the project was approximately 5 weeks.

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