Aida Dorantes
Founder and creative director
Draws every sketch with the client. Speaks Spanish and English.
Mural studio · Los Angeles
Sketch it. Sign it. Paint it.
Dorantes Mural Studio paints walls for businesses and owners across Los Angeles County: storefronts, restaurants, lobbies, courtyards and kids' rooms. You see the sketch on a photo of your own wall before anyone buys a can of paint.
- Exterior walls
- Storefronts
- Restaurants
- Lobbies
- Courtyards
- Stairwells
- Garage doors
- Kids' rooms
How a wall gets painted
Three steps, in this order
Nothing is bought until the sketch is signed, and nothing is painted until the wall is ready.
01Sketch
We visit the wall, measure it and photograph it. Then we draw your idea in color, to scale, on a photo of that wall.
02Approval
You sign the sketch. If the wall belongs to a landlord, or needs a city mural registration, we say so now, before any paint is ordered.
03Wall
The crew washes, patches and primes the wall, transfers the sketch, paints in layers and seals it. The proposal gives your dates.
Sample walls
Walls, up close
Outside and in. Tap a wall to see it large.
Showing 6 of 6
Sample photos.
What we paint
Four kinds of wall
Block walls, building sides, garage doors, roll-down gates and courtyards, sealed for sun and street.
Offices, cafés, stairwells and entries, painted after hours when the building asks for it.
A feature wall, a nursery or a stairwell for owners who want one wall to be art.
Schools, courts and block walls with a neighborhood behind them, with paint days for the people who live there.
The approval step
Nobody paints a wall that isn't theirs to paint
Before a can is opened, the sketch is signed by you and, where it applies, by the person who owns the building. We keep the signed sketch with the proposal, so everyone is looking at the same wall.
What we line up
A letter from the landlord or property manager, when the wall isn't yours
The city mural registration, when the wall needs one
HOA or business-district sign-off, when your block asks for it
A note to the neighbors before the scaffold goes up
The studio
Twelve painters, three crews
Four of the people you will talk to before the first brush touches the wall.
Edmond Blackwell
Production lead
Runs the scaffolds, lifts and schedule. Decides when a wall is dry enough to paint.
Mikaela Bacani
Lead muralist
Transfers the sketch to the wall and paints the detail. Speaks Spanish and English.
Yee Cheng
Wall prep and approvals
Washes, patches and primes. Chases the landlord letters and the city paperwork.
From the walls we've painted
“The sketch showed our own front wall with the awning and the gas meter on it, so paint day had no surprises. We approved it at the counter.”
Nairi S.Café owner, Mid-City
“The crew put a note under every neighbor's door before the scaffold went up and kept the sidewalk open. The landlord letter was ready before I asked.”
Hisham A.Building owner, Huntington Park
“My daughter chose the animals from Mikaela's sketches. We stayed out of the room for a few days, and then the wall was hers.”
Josselyn R.Parent, Highland Park
Sample reviews.
Where we paint
Walls across Los Angeles County
We visit the wall first, so every sketch is drawn to the real surface.
Central and south Los Angeles
- Arts District
- Koreatown
- Westlake
- Mid-City
- Leimert Park
- Highland Park
- Huntington Park
Westside and South Bay
- Culver City
- Santa Monica
- Venice
- Inglewood
- Long Beach
San Gabriel Valley, east and the Valley
- Pasadena
- Glendale
- North Hollywood
- Montebello
- El Monte
We don't take walls outside Los Angeles and Orange counties. If yours is farther out, ask: a visiting crew is sometimes possible.
Questions
Before you call
Will I see the design before you paint?
Yes. The sketch is drawn in color, to scale, on a photo of your own wall, and you sign it before any paint is bought. Changes to the sketch are written into the proposal.
Who has to approve a wall?
You, and whoever owns the building if that isn't you. Some walls also need a city mural registration or a sign-off from an HOA or business district. We tell you which at the approval step, before paint is ordered.
How much does a mural cost?
It depends on the wall's size and condition, how detailed the art is, the height and whether the crew needs a lift or scaffold, and the sealer. We don't quote from a photo alone. We visit the wall, then send a written proposal.
How long does a mural take?
A storefront-size wall is a few days of painting after the prep. Your proposal lists the days. The weather decides the rest: we don't paint wet walls, and in summer we start early to stay out of the worst heat.
Is my building built before 1978? What changes?
EPA rules apply to paid work that disturbs paint in homes and child-occupied buildings built before 1978, such as schools, day cares and kids' rooms. If yours is that old, tell us when you call. We check the paint before we sand or scrape it and follow the EPA's renovation rules where they apply. Our firm number is in the footer.
Tell us about the wall
A photo and a rough size are enough to start. We reply by text or phone, then book a visit to the wall.
Phone(323) 555-0101
Hours
- Monday – FridayToday
- 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- SaturdayToday
- By appointment
- SundayToday
- Closed