Roger Reiman - The Wall

Wall Selection

Before getting too far into mural concept ideation, we better figure out exactly how big our canvas is going to be. I have been a project leader at Walldog events several times over the past decade or so. Each Walldog event is a little bit different, and so is the process for picking walls for each project leader to paint on.

It would be my suggestion, if you possibly can, to physically measure and inspect your project wall in person. At one particular event I was given dimension of 10' x 25' for my overall mural size. I went through the entire design process with those dimensions in mind. I completed the mural design and had the maquette nearly completed, when I decided to go check the wall out shortly before the event.

When I arrived at the mural site, I discovered that the wall was about 12 feet tall and about 80 feet long. So, my 10' x 25' art was basically going to look like a postage stamp on that size wall. I had to make several last minute adjustments and additions to the art, to make it work in that space. 

On one of my last Walldog projects, I had received a wall size that didn't quite match the proportions of the photos I had received, so I started getting a bit nervous. I once again made the decision to drive to the site and confirm the wall size in person. In this case, the event organizers had remeasured the wall for me and the dimensions then matched the correct proportions. 

In that particular case, it was a good idea to visit the site, to get a proper persective on how large that wall was, and to see what we were up against. After that visit, I could make the proper recommendations in regards to the lift equipment we would need. I was also able to confirm the condition of the painting surface we would be working on.

If you cannot make a visit to the site because of distance, make sure to obtain photos and accurate measurements of the project you are designing for.

The Roger Reiman Mural Wall

In the case of the Roger Reiman project, we were close enough to drive down and inspect the wall in person very early in the planning stages. As soon as we discovered that there was a museum for Roger located inside the Reiman Harley-Davidson® shop in Kewanee, we planned a visit. During that same visit, we took a tour of all of the sites that the Kewanee Walldog planners had picked out.

The organizers of the event had pretty much narrowed the proposed Reiman project down to two different buildings. We were allowed to give our input and decided on the site below.

This building is right on one of the main roads through town. It is also located just a few blocks down the Road from Reiman Harley-Davidson®. The wall is large enough to provide an appropriately sized canvas for the Reiman Mural.

If you decide to visit your wall prior to the event, bring a good camera along and take the best straight on shot that you can. Make sure you take at least one measurement of the overall wall size.

We made all sorts of calculations for how big of a mural we could fit, but we neglected to take an overall wall length measurement. One of the organizers of the event was good enough to provide me with that little detail. 

It my next post I will show the process of doing a scaled rendering of the wall so that all elements of the design can be calculated and prepared to the correct scale.