The Dark Knight Rises mural that you see in the image above and the galleries below stands at 120 feet-tall and can be found at 315 Park Avenue South in New York City. Aside from the scope of the project, I find it really impressive that the painters managed to keep all of that “subtle blending” so consistent. I am not usually swayed by advertising, but I must admit that this has me wishing that my town had an IMAX theater.

A life-sized rendition of the artwork is broken down into a simple outline. This is called the cartoon and is, in fact, where the modern use of the word “cartoon” comes from. Holes are punched through the outline to form a dotted stencil that is then gone over with a charcoal pounce. By the end, they have the wall mapped out with the most basic shapes and proportions in place.

The oil-based paint is then mixed to match the larger portions of the painting, leaving the subtle blending and mixing to be handled ala prima on the wall. Each painter has a print-out of the design strapped to their arm, like a mini shield, that they use as a guide as they flesh out all the details.

It took four guys about five days of sunrise-to-sunset painting to complete The Dark Knight Rises.

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