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Explore Kate Fitzpatrick's Mural Process

About Kate

Kate Fitzpatrick is a Colorado-based visual artist and muralist whose work celebrates wildlife with both beauty and integrity. A lifelong animal lover, she uses vegan art materials, sources reference photos from wildlife photographers, and avoids imagery that places animals beneath humans. She also partners with sanctuaries, creating art that supports animal welfare and advocacy. 

Since 2023, Fitzpatrick has been commissioned to paint large-scale murals across Colorado and has contributed to festivals including the Fort Collins Mural Project, Streetwise Arts Mural Festival, and Fraser Mountain Mural Festival. Her passion for murals and her identity as a coda (child of Deaf adults) inspired her to found the KissFist Mural Fest — a nonprofit festival dedicated to celebrating Deaf culture, paying artists a fair wage, and creating an accessible, family-friendly space. 

Step One

Once a mural design is approved by all parties involved (this can include the building
owner, an art agency, the company commissioning the mural, and the artist), I visit the
mural site. Seeing the wall first helps me determine a few things: do I need to prime the
surface first? Is the wall north or south facing – this is important to know because it
means will I be in the hot sun all day or not? I like to start early when painting a mural,
and aim to get to the site around 5am to avoid the hottest part of the day. Are there
bathrooms nearby? Is there parking? These are some of the logistical things that I need
to know before painting.

Step Two

Untitled Artwork
04_Englewood_Partially Primed
Untitled Artwork
06_Englewood_Primed

Then, I pack up my car with everything I need – paint, tools, water, sunblock, food, drop cloths, ladder, and more. If I need to prime the wall, I do that. Then I create my doodle grid and get the design outlined onto the wall.

A doodle grid is a really fun and effective method for scaling a design from a small digital sketch to a large wall.

I typically draw my mural concept as a digital outline. I use an iPad drawing app called
Procreate.

Then, at the mural site, I use paint or chalk in a light or medium color like pink or white (depends on the color of the wall surface) and I just doodle all over the wall. Every artists approaches this differently. Some use spray paint and do letters and numbers. I love doodling so I draw a lot of whales, flowers, squiggles – whatever comes to mind. I love writing my nephew’s names as well so that they are a part of the mural.

After I’ve doodled all over the wall, I take a photo of it. Then I put the photo into procreate and layer my digital sketch over it. I drop the opacity of the digital sketch down so that I can see both my digital sketch and the doodle grid.

Then I go back to the wall with a dark brown or Sienna paint and I use that image of my digital sketch overlaid on the doodles as my guide to place the outline.

Step Three

11_Englewood_Horse Close Up_Partially Completed with Doodle Grid
12_Englewood_Progress_25_Finished
13_Englewood_Progress_30_Finished
14_Englewood_Progress_40_Finsihed
15_Englewood_40_Complete_Close Up
16_Englewood_Progress_50_Finished
Once the design is successfully applied to the wall, it is time for the fun part: painting! I like to paint the most challenging part of a mural first. I do this because mural painting is very physically demanding and my energy is usually at its highest at the beginning of painting. So I want to tackle the more complex painting right from the start so that the easier aspects can be done at the end, when my energy is usually at a lower level. Mural painting can take days or weeks depending on the size and weather. In Colorado, we have a dry climate which is great for mural painting – it means the paint dries almost instantly so even if it rains, the paint won’t wash off. I painted a mural in Georgia, where humidity is high. I learned the hard way that paint doesn’t dry fast: an evening storm washed away days of work!

Step Four

Once the painting is done, it needs around 48 hours to cure and then a clear anti- graffiti and UV coating can be applied. Sometimes the artist does this, and sometimes the commissioning organization handles it.
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