I am doing more murals with a cut out approach. I sketch up the design, lay it down on 1/2 inch dense particle board (smooth surface to work on). Cut it out and then paint it. The versatility of where the purchaser wants to hang it is great and if they ever want to move it, no problem.
Above is the final version of the main mural, the eagle is the schools mascot and I incorporated some sport and healthy food to flank it. I took 2 4x8 sheets of particle board to lay this design out. You can see the seam in the middle if you look closely. Below are the designs and process to get to this point.
