August 24, 2020

Adding a mural to your barrel

By: Dave Byers / First Nations Sleeping Barrels

We have received MANY inquiries regarding a blank coloured Sunbrella cover. Most important, these covers are waterproof and required as there is bedding inside that we don’t want to get wet.

So how can we offer something unique? Something custom to you and your campground or business or surrounding? How about this? You wave your magic wand and dream up the PERFECT design or scene and we will make it happen

What would that look like?

We were asked if we could make our sleeping barrels look like a covered wagon. GREAT question and I accepted the challenge. I hired Lawson, an awesome tattoo artist and air brush artist and gave him creative licence to make one of our sleeping barrels look like a covered wagon

The following 20 or so images show just what is included in the design process from start to finish. How do we charge for something like this you may ask? The more detail, the more person hours and the greater the investment. One thing for sure, you will NOT be disappointed in the end result!

It starts with a sketch or outline of the drawing onto the sleeping barrel
We think that the owner of this wagon was a successful blacksmith and metal worker
All the detail has been completed from the shovel and axe to the rips and repairs in the canvas (that is what I mean by “detail”)
Time to start adding some color – let’s start with the black
This is being done on the deck at our showroom in Whiskey Creek so lots of curious passers by as well as interested potential clients are stopping in to see the transformation from blank canvas to covered wagon
starting to add some wood grain and more black. LOTS of details make a beautiful finished product
Adding more wood grain to see the covered wagon take shape.
More detail to the wheels and the water barrel.
IMAGINE, not that long ago, this is how people travelled.
All about the attention to detail making an old axe look like an axe
The artist, Lawson taking a break to review the progress
The canvas top is now coloured and the Sunbrella cover near the bubble blends in better and the wheels and the ground the wheels are on has some more attention to detail
AWESOME work from a very talented artist – GREAT JOB Lawson
STAY TUNED for SEVERAL other very unique scenes

As mentioned, the artist is at work creating images on everything. Got a challenge for us?

Interesting to walk around in this guy’s mind for awhile eh?