Star Ceilings... Painted or Fiber optics? - Page 2

Just found a really cool ceiling that I painted just outside of Colorado Springs. I love these inset ceilings because you can create the illusion of small windows around the sides.

OK... that's alright. I just thought it would be fun to paint one of those. But,my mind has been racing and working on bringing back a product that I have worked on in the past that I think would be awesome! I'll tell you... it's nice having the night sky to fall asleep under at night when my minds racing a thousand miles an hour. It gives me something else to focus on. :-)

And... you are so right. My back and neck are in constant pain from doing these murals. I am going to try to get a few more years of painting in before I settle down on training others my techniques full-time.

Thanks for your nice words.

The theater room at the beginning of the thread is not touched up... and a couple others that I've used are not. Some have to be helped along to get the stars to show up... which you are correct when you said that "it is nearly impossible to take those pictures". But, the color of the ceiling in that first theater room picture is all from the black light. In talking with the home owner yesterday... he told me that when the lights are off... the ceiling is black. Then with the movie playing... the ceiling looks a dark gray except for a really bright scene.

The theater room ceiling (the first picture) is actually a light blue sky color... and I am planning on taking some pictures of it in the light next week when I am back out there, as requested. But, the ceiling in any room that is dark will turn black when the room is dark... so picture won't pick up what the ceiling color really is. Then, when you put glowing stars on the ceiling and turn out the lights, there is an optical illusion that takes place and the ceiling even looks darker. I've had many a customer ask me what I put on the ceiling to make it look black. Even with the ceiling and walls that are the same color... the ceiling will usually look darker. It's pretty cool.

But, again, to not try and deceive anyone... some of the pictures that I will show have been lightened up or doctored slightly to help the stars show up. Now, having said that... I have had almost every one of my customers tell me (when I showed them their mural for the first time) that they were just hoping that the real mural would look even close to what the pictures looked like. Then, after the reveal... they always say that the pictures don't do the murals justice because you can't really see the 3D effect or the stars twinkling.

Hope that explains things.

And I didn't take it that way... so no problem. I have tried for years to get a good picture of the night sky and have failed. I have had others try and they did better (and those are the pictures that I use) but they still aren't like the real thing. And, I've had newspaper photographers and even the film crew from HGTV that did a segment on the murals tried and tried... but just couldn't get it right, so they shot the video under a black light. I don't even really link to the video any more because it just doesn't look like the real mural does.

About the base layer... No, nothing. That's one of the neat things about the murals too. When I walk out of the room after painting... and the lights are on, the room looks just like the homeowner had it before I arrived. Except, of course, the paint color is not super dark.

I just found this picture of an indoor swimming pool that I painted in in a mansion in Las Vegas four or five years ago. Very fun job and very nice house.





And... no, I didn't pee my pants. I had to walk out to my ladder. :-)

(And for the record... I forgot to get a picture of just the pool with the mural, so the first picture was made for me. But, the real thing is much nicer. I just show this picture to show some of the other places that I have painted murals. But, the theater room was just down the hall)

I have gotten a few inquiries about the lighting in the picture at the beginning of this thread. So, I would like to clarify what the customer used and I will try to get pictures of the room to post here after I visit them while I am here in California.

The lights in the picture are not rope lights like many of you have thought. And, the room is much larger than it looks (That may be some of the confusion has happened).

The soffit around the room is 3 feet out from the side walls and about 18 to 24 inches down from the ceiling (I will get accurate measurements when I visit).

Many people have thought that the picture shows rope lights around the room.. but they are 13 really just four foot black lights, placed a foot or two apart, around the room. The black lights are in just regular fluorescent light fixtures, the same kind that would be hanging in a garage or utility room.

The trim on the front of the soffit forms a lip around the room so that it hides the fluorescent lights.

I hope that this clears up some misconceptions.

They are some serious rain-making shower heads hanging from the ceiling. It was pretty fun swimming in there with it raining! The entire house was really nice.

And, yes, there were some serious echos in that room too. That room is something like 30 feet long. I think that they took two normal rooms and made an indoor swimming pool out of them.

Glad you liked the picture.

Thanks! In the right situation... the murals really are fun and unique.

If you just really want to do this yourself... then I would strongly suggest getting a stencil to use. The best one that I have been able to find is from http://www.ursamajorstencils.com/ but the paint that they have is not very good. So.... I would suggest getting a stencil from them and ordering better paint on the Internet. I can also sell you paint. Their paint is the green paint that has a glow that lasts for about 20 minutes. My paint is an aqua (or I have blue) that will glow for up to 12 hours.

I used to stock some of their stencils, and may again, but that is what I would suggest. Then, if you go that route, I can offer a few things once you have painted it that will make it a little better.

If you don't like that option... then let me know and I will try another approach, but again, think about at least using a stencil. You'll be happy you did.

Thank you very much!

Room light will charge the paint that I use... but fluorescent light (black or white) works many, many times better. I realized that when I thought that my own mural was good... until I changed out out incandescent bulbs with the spiral fluorescents. Wow!!! The difference was incredible.

I personally like black lights because to see the murals you need a dark room, a good fluorescent light source and night eyes. If your eyes are in bright white light of any kind... your night eyes are not very good. But, under the black light, your eyes are not as affected and you can see the mural, everything in the dark quicker. That's why I suggest a black light. But, any fluorescent will do. It's the UV that charges the paint.

I found a nice fiber optic ceiling and thought that I would put it up along side of a painted night sky mural ceiling. Here you go...

LOL... I'm sure that you will like the stencil outcome. It is very basic, but it will look nice. When you get ready to paint the ceiling... email me and I will give you some tips on making your stencil experience a little better, and giving you a nice mural.





Yes, the pigments that I use are Strontium based. Those are the longest glowing that you can buy. But, what is really important is the medium that you put them in. If they are separating, and not invisible in the light... then it is more of a medium issue, as opposed to the pigments themselves.

Is his paint already mixed? Or, do you have the pigments in a bag still? I have some medium that I have made up for me by a faux painter... that will hold the pigments so that they don't separate and so that it dries virtually clear. If your friend has dry pigments, I can get you some good medium. If it's already mixed... then I would suggest using some paint that you can purchase off of the Internet or else talk to me about getting you some.

Either way... you'll need some anti-inflamatories around for after you paint. :-)

Good Luck

Sure... all of the different stencils are just large pieces of paper with holes drilled in them. Some of the stencil kits have 2' x 2' sheets and the Night Sky stencil kit (that I gave the link to) has 2' x 10' and 2' x 12' sheets (depending on the size you get.

You put the paper up on the ceiling and just paint through the holes that are drilled. Then, you take down the paper and you are ready. I believe that most of the stencil kits have about the same number of holes drilled in them... which comes out to about 300-350 for a 10 x 10 room.

Where you see a large hole, you make a larger star by painting a larger circle... and through the smaller holes you paint smaller stars by just touching the tip of the brush to the ceiling.

It is really pretty simple, but time consuming. And, you get a very basic, but nice, little star ceiling.

If you get the stencil (for about $30) and then get paint on the Internet or from me (say, another $30) you can have a decent ceiling for around $70, after you include the shipping.

Hope this helps!

Wow... that fan is incredible! It's beautiful.

I will PM you with costs and descriptions of what I have to offer. You can also email me at NightSkyMurals@gmail.com

But, I'll get that quote to you in just a few minutes.

No, I travel from coast to coast painting the murals. I used to stay local, but now I probably paint 1 mural locally to every 40 or 50 that I paint in other states.

A couple of Christmas' ago... I traveled to 6 states, in 7 days... and painted 12 murals. It was really fun, but very tiring. I started in Beverly Hills, CA - then flew all night to paint in Maryland - New Jersey, New York... back out to St. Louis, MO - Dallas, TX - and then back to California to finish in Sacramento. If I wasn't painting, I was driving or running through an airport. I can tell you that Virgin America is an awesome airline if you are flying cross country! Love them!!!

So, to make this long answer even longer... I will be painting here in California this month, as well as Texas and the East Coast.

It's really nice that I love what I do, eh? :-)

By the way, for anyone who has a ceiling fan or other obstacle on the ceiling... there is no problem painting a mural with them there. I just paint the non-moving parts of the fan and when the room is dark, and the ceiling fan is spinning... the fan virtually disappears into the mural. It's really cool.