Let me give you a look on the creative process of painting two wooden sliding doors. It’s a super nice commission by Eva Lebens and family. The doors close off two bathrooms in their newly renovated and soon-to-be open beautiful Airbnb location in Voorburg, the Netherlands.
Eva is one of our neighbours and a few weeks ago she walked in the Mr. Upside Gallery, wondering if I would be interested in painting two sliding doors of her soon-to-be-ready Airbnb location in our street.
Ofcourse I couldn't refuse such an awesome request! So later that day, she and her husband Joost gave me a tour in their newly renovated apartments behind their house.
PICTURE 1 of 16 - THE TWO BLANK SLIDING DOORS - Work-in-progress - Painted sliding doors for bathroom Airbnb location
In the picture above you see the two bathrooms with the doors open. The Airbnb apartments are super cool and stylishly decorated. With underlayment wooden plates on the floor and the exposed brick walls, the apartment has a contemporary and cosy feel.
Picture 2 of 16 - Preparing the doors by painting Gesso on them - Work-in-progress - Painted sliding doors for bathroom Airbnb location
Eva and Joost had the idea to work to collaborate with local people as much as possible. The first idea of Joost was to use a local graffiti artist but they decided they needed a less 'busy' and more toned-down image.
Eva had seen my work hanging in the gallery before and gave me carte blanche with the art on the doors. I thought of adding a more figurative, local or bathroom theme but decided to keep it abstract. It would leave more to the imagination of the visitors of the Airbnb location.
Picture 3 of 16 - Taping the sides where I don't want paint to touch the wood - Work-in-progress - Painted sliding doors for bathroom Airbnb location
I started by applying a layer of white Gesso to both doors, to improve the adhesion of the acrylic paint. Then I added some color, knowing that this color probably wouldn't be visible in the end result because of all the layers of paint on top.
Picture 4 of 16 - First layer of paint and the first set of Bold Lines on it - Work-in-progress - Painted sliding doors for bathroom Airbnb location
I liked the idea of layering, of another layer of Bold Lines shining through the top layer. During the painting, the concept of combining the 'old' (house build in 1922) with the 'new' (renovated Airbnb apartments), popped in my head.
So I decided on a toned-down background with an 'old', less organised feel and a 'new', more structured and tighter top layer with brighter Bold Lines.
The images in this work-in-progress article show only the layers that form the background of the paintings. Somewhere in the next two weeks I'll be posting images of the finished sliding doors with the Bold Lines top layer here.
In the meantime, I'll keep you posted on the progress on my Instagram account
Picture 5 of 16 - Overview of painting I am currently working on - Work-in-progress - Painted sliding doors for bathroom Airbnb location
Picture 6 of 16 - Extending the first Bold Lines on the sliding door - Work-in-progress - Painted sliding doors for bathroom Airbnb location
Picture 7 of 16 - Preparing the second sliding door with orange paint - Work-in-progress - Painted sliding doors for bathroom Airbnb location
Picture 8 of 16 - The first under layer of thicker Bold Lines is finished - Work-in-progress - Painted sliding doors for bathroom Airbnb location
Picture 9 of 16 - Statusupdate - The painted sliding doors next to eachother - Work-in-progress - Painted sliding doors for bathroom Airbnb location
Picture 10 of 16 - Added some paint to the blue sliding door and prepared the orange door - Work-in-progress - Painted sliding doors for bathroom Airbnb location
Picture 11 of 16 - Painting the Bold Lines on the second sliding door - Work-in-progress - Painted sliding doors for bathroom Airbnb location
PICTURE 12 OF 16 - Thicker BOLD LINES on both sliding doors - Work-in-progress - Painted sliding doors for bathroom Airbnb location
PICTURE 13 OF 16 - I USE THE LEFT OVERS OF PAINT FOR OTHER PAINTINGS - Work-in-progress - Painted sliding doors for bathroom Airbnb location
PICTURE 14 OF 16 - CLOSE UP 1 of ONE OF the painted sliding doorS - Work-in-progress - Painted sliding doors for bathroom Airbnb location
PICTURE 15 OF 16 - CLOSE UP 2 of ONE OF the painted sliding doorS - Work-in-progress - Painted sliding doors for bathroom Airbnb location
PICTURE 16 OF 16 - CLOSE UP 3 of ONE OF the painted sliding doors - Work-in-progress - Painted sliding doors for bathroom Airbnb location
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