PAINTING ZEBRA STRIPES ON A CEILING & TUTORIAL

    PAINTING ZEBRA STRIPES ON A CEILING & TUTORIAL

 Robin was redecorating her daughters' bathroom and they wanted a zebra stripe theme.  So, Robin asked me to paint the walls a very nice aqua and zebra stripes on the ceiling.  I've worked for Robin for years and her ideas are always great, but some are a bit challenging!  We had to decide which way the stripes would go and we chose "across" the room instead of the length of the room.  I think it was a good choice.  It's like we were going around the zebra, not head to tail, as you viewed the room.

I've painted zebra stripes several times.  On a unique stool, furniture and one wall.  It's not hard to paint them, but might be a bit awkward for a beginner to paint them on a ceiling.  It wasn't too hard for me because I'm always climbing on a ladder and looking up.  From time to time people have asked if it hurts my neck and I just say "no, I'm used to it!".

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PAINTING ZEBRA STRIPES TUTORIAL

When I'm starting a new project I always do lots of homework.  For zebra stripes I went online and studied lots of photos of zebras.  Their stripes are truly amazing!  and, they're all different shapes and sizes.  So, I knew I couldn't go wrong.  On furniture, on a wall and on this ceiling, I always use a pencil and draw them first.  It's very easy!  Just draw, draw, draw long uneven stripes, mostly coming to a point at both ends.  Then, I use a little artist brush to paint the points and outline of the whole stripe.  Then, I use a tiny roller and paint the inside of the outline/stripe.  Painting black on a white ceiling you might have to do a second coat.  If you put a heavy first coat of black, brushing and rolling, you probably won't need to do a second coat.

Black and white are the most common colors I usually see on "zebra prints".  But, if you look closely at a zebra's coat they vary from off-white to a beige color.  Whatever your color scheme is will determine how white you want the background to be.  But, the little stool I painted and the wall I painted a little bit off-white and  black stripes.  Then, I glazed over them with an aging/antiquing glaze.  I think the colors were wonderful!!  And, those particular colors don't have to be for a kid's room.  They look great with  beiges and browns, blues, greens, so many colors.

HAVE FUN PAINTING YOUR ZEBRA STRIPES!!