I once saw a guy paint Dr. Seuss's the Cat in the Hat (stepping in on the mat) on a wall freehand in a nursery school. This same guy painted an underwater scene with Disney's the Little Mermaid characters in another room in the same school. I am not quite that talented. One thing I learned from my ex-husband (NOT the narcissist I am currently married to, by the way) is how to just about paint anything on a wall. Funny thing is that I can paint better now than I did back then, but the method has stayed with me.

What you first need to do is decide what picture you want to paint. You will need paint in the proper colors, paint thinner or water (depending on the kind of paint you are using), an overhead projector, transparencies, camel hair paint brushes in different sizes, a pounce wheel (available in art stores), couch pillows, a sock, Dixie cups, and either baby powder (for painting on walls other than white in color), or powdered black charcoal (also available in art stores), a pencil, a big roll of paper, and tape.

1. Copy the picture you want to paint onto a transparency.

2. Tape paper to the wall big enough to cover the area you intend to paint.

3. Place transparency on the projector. Move projector closer or further away from the wall until you get the picture sized the way you want.

4. Take the pencil, and stand to one side of the projection to avoid a shadow. Draw an outline around the figures in the pictures.

5. Remove the paper from the wall. Sit on a couch, and use one of the bottom couch cushions (they are firmer) to bear down on while you use the pounce wheel over the pencil lines you just drew.

6. Tape the paper on the wall you want to paint, in the exact position you want it.

7. Partially fill the sock with either baby powder or charcoal powder, whichever you chose to use.

8. Lightly pounce the powder through the holes onto the wall, making a light pattern.

9. Put small portions of your paint in Dixie Cups, which are easily carried to the wall, and paint the characters using the pattern one color at a time. Let the first color dry before applying the next.

10. After you have put the base colors down, go back around the outlines with a smaller paintbrush with black paint.

For underwater scenes, as mentioned above, you can thin out a mixture of blue and green in a bigger cup, dip a rag into it and zig zag lines across the wall. Then go back and paint the characters on top of that once the paint has dried.

Voila! Kids love this stuff!

Note: Be certain to use paint that does not contain lead.