Towards a durable alternative medium in mural painting: the auto paint experiment

Abstract

In the traditional parlance of mural painting among Nigerian artists, the use of emulsion paint has become universal. After years of professional practice, the observation is that these emulsion-paint murals do not last on the walls. The reason is that the emulsion paint made in Nigeria is of very poor quality. Under the onslaught of tropical Nigeria rain, the beautiful paintings wash off very quickly from the walls upon which they are made. This paper is therefore the documented result of the visual artistic experiments spanning about 13 years, in the identification of a durable alternative medium for executing mural painting in Nigeria. Among possible paint mediums like emulsion paint, emulsion/glue mixture and oil paint, auto paint proved to be the most durable and applicable alternative to emulsion paint for mural painting.


Global Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 6 (1) 2007: pp.93-96