content: It's part of a mural project that happens every year. There's many large murals all over the city, and obviously, the number grows every year. I've seen them doing them in various stages and they start by sketching it out on a photograph of the building, then they go through some process that I don't know about to scale everything up and apply a wireframe outline on the building. Then using bucket lifts, roller brushes, big, medium, small brushes, and often more than one person helping, the artist just paints it bit by bit. Here's some images of the "girl in a jar" photo I posted in the comments in the process of being made: http://i.imgur.com/2vDlWqQ.png http://i.imgur.com/StFeMoE.jpg Finished product: http://i.imgur.com/arfuWP6.jpg I think they use a clear protective coating over it (like a polyurethane or something). And it only takes them a few days, depending on how much help they have and their experience. In Richmond, these murals and the mural project are very popular things, and it actually helps raise the property value, especially if the mural is 'famous'.