case study: painted doors

Case study of a private commission: four painted bifold doors combining historical ornamental styles, from AI-assisted brief to hand-painted result.

scope

Scope: Four bifold door panels. Each door measured 14.5 x 73.5 in. with inner panels 7 x 60 in.

Outcome: A painted door series that combines historical ornamental styles in a way the client had not seen before, translated from AI-assisted concepts into a single cohesive design.

Intro: The client wanted a combination of historical styles with no clear precedent. She used AI to explore and describe it, and I turned those explorations into a resolved design, drawn at full scale and painted by hand.

Brief

The client is a retired military aviator who has traveled widely through her service. She wanted to combine Telemark rosemaling, Celtic and Urnes Viking ornament, and manuscript styles with her own symbols, personal iconography, and heritage. She shared image references and objects from her collection, and she used AI to communicate and test a combination of styles she had not seen done before.

The AI output could show direction, but it couldn’t show how the styles would work together. Resolving that was my job. Through collaborative feedback sessions, I decided which elements best supported her vision, how the different traditions could share a color palette and scale, and how the composition would work across four narrow doors at full size.

Client brief details & methods

  • Custom design: Four inner door panels 7 x 60 inches, each door measures 14.5 x 73.5

  • Ottosson Core Green linseed oil painted background (client painted): continued use of Ottosson environmentally friendly, solvent-free paint

  • Styles to include: Telemark Rosemaling Scandanavian, Celtic, Urnes Viking, Books of Kells, Lindisfarne Gospels, flower and animals elements from client’s collection of vintage collected fabrics, ravens, hummingbirds, wolves, and clients two cats Loki and Thor

Recent Client
Speciality Classes & Research

  • Design Brief

  • AI assisted client communications for visual elements

  • Learned basic elements and methods of historical styles

  • Sketches: Translated client descriptions and visuals into new forms with pencil followed by actual sized vectors in Adobe Illustrator

  • Digitize: Printed scaled vectors and transferred drawings to inner panels with Saral

  • Color studies: Adobe Illustrator, paint swatches and custom color mixes, hand-painted studies on gessoed paper for major elements

  • Painted Doors

Process
  • Step 1: Pencil sketch

    Step 1: Scaled Pencil Sketch, one of many drafts

  • Digital black and white sketch

    Step 2: Sketch scanned and translated with Adobe Illustrator desktop and iPad version with Apple Pencil. Vector file matches the exact size of the doors

  • Digital color study

    Step 3 Color Studies: Loose digital color study Adobe Illustrator

  • Color studies with paint swatches

    Step 3 Color Studies: Testing, matching, and mixing colors to match Core Green Ottosson paint on the doors

  • Painting drafts

    Step 3 Color Studies: Rosemaling painting tests and combinations with historical imagery

  • Raven and phoenix paint tests

    Step 3 Color Studies: Raven and Phoenix paint drafts – key elements related to the client's personal iconography and history

  • Transfer vector drawings with Saral

    Step 4 accurate door drawing: Transfer vector drawings onto the doors with Saral. Last step before painting begins on the doors

selected process videos

Other than photos and files, process videos were shared with the client along with in-person client visits to the studio with collaborative edits

Process video shared with client during the drawing transfer process

Process video shared with client during the painting process

Client's other cat
Client's cat
Doors signed before delivery

Doors delivered and installed. These doors reflect the client’s personal history, personal symbolism, and heritage.

Client will allow deinstallation of doors for special gallery and museum events. Contact us for inquiries.