Thursday, August 16, 2012

Camper Art Gallery Designs

So I have the camper primed! If you are following along and want to paint the outside of a camper to make a mobile art gallery of your own, I'll let you know the process as it goes. I looked into what paint to use and after deciding not to use car paint (because it is expensive), and not to use rustoleum (because I was told its color fades fast) - I decided to use what a lot of websites said to: exterior house paint! I know I was surprised too. Since the aluminum had the factory finish on it all I had to do to prep was lightly sand and wash it. That is if you forget all the stickers to remove and caulking to fix. :-) 

The primer I used was Glidden Gripper for latex paint. It gave me some problems when it was sunny because it dried super fast, leaving some goopy stuff that I will need to sand off with a fine sandpaper. I wanted to spray the primer but it was too thick to squirt out the sprayer and it said not to thin it down. 





So the next step is sanding, like I said, and then paint job! I have two designs I like below that I sketched in thumbnail. I have already bought a vintage looking red and white striped canopy that will go IN FRONT of the camper over the door and the whole of that side. I am showing it on the side in my sketches so it doesn't block the design. 
The first design is a space age design that would go with the name my daughter came up with for the camper: Hover Craft. My camper is propped up really high so it can be dragged up a mountainside, so I was trying to come up with a name that went with that. The blue will probably be different but you get the idea. I also have a little tail fin thing at the top that a lot of campers have that would have to be made and attached.

This design I think goes with my kitsch art and has a fun feel. 


 My other design is thirties inspired. It has almost a jadeite green, but a little darker. I would have to beef up the red accents to go with the red and white awning (that again will be in front of the camper, not the side). It kind of reminds me of girl scouts and bright red and shiny camping gear.

The 30's design is clean and simple and much more traditional.

So let me know what you think!




7 comments:

Daniela said...

I like the green :)

Wen Baragrey said...

Green for me too :) It goes with your art.

Vicki Holdwick said...

Hi Nicole,

What fun!

I have to vote for the green too!

xoxo

Louise Sackett said...

Actually, I am surprised you don't have veggies all the way around the bottom!!!

Cheryl Metzger said...

My vote is for the green! Cool idea.

Making A Mark said...

I like them both.

One thing you might want to think about if you've not done so already is where is the camper going to live (eg outside your house?). Does one design fit in better with its surroundings than the other.

My only concern would be what the stripes of the awning might do in terms of reflecting colour onto your work. I remember looking at some art in a blue tent once where all the art had a distinct shade of blue! However I guess being an awning it'll be much less of an issue.

vivien said...

I like the first design best - it's more fun, less classic