New commission 'Keep calm and think of new recipes'

On january 10th I congratulated Peter with his birthday by sending him a quick message with my phone and thanking him for the art projects he commissioned in 2015 en 2016. He replied by requesting 'something nice' as a farewell gift for manager Rogier who just had left Dutch communications provider KPN.

It was never my intention to get a new commission but I was honored and excited to make a new artwork for KPN. Especially because Rogier was someone I knew, liked and had been pleasantly working for, for quite some time, as a freelance UX Designer.

Tight deadline

The project had one major challenge. Time. The farewell party was in about two weeks. It meant I had to sacrifice my newly fitness routine and probably a substantial amount of sleep to win some precious time. I really didn't mind. Making art is more important than a lean and mean body, :)

Keep calm and...

Directly after getting the assignment, I sent an e-mail to a few former co-workers of Rogier asking for a character description that could complement my own experiences with Rogier. One of them, Sanne, soon replied with some very usefull tips and that inspired me to the title and text in the illustration 'Keep calm and think of new recipes'. Rogier stays calm and seemingly relaxed and focused in stressfull situations, hence the part 'Keep calm and...'. One thing I didn't know was the passion for cooking Rogier apparently has. But cooking and a kitchen are always very useful metaphores in an image, so I used that part to come up with the second part of the double portrait of Rogier.

Figurative style

Recently I made some illustrations on paper in a different style compared to the Bold Lines style I have been using the last few years. I decided to use that particular, more figurative style as a starting point for my sketches.

Pencil sketches on canvas

One problem I didn't foresee was the transfer of my sketches on paper to the canvas. My sketches where on a 1:1 scale. I used a grid with guidelines to help me with the positioning. But by wanting to do things too quickly, I forgot that pencil strokes on a canvas can't be easily erased. Using an eraser on a canvas, smears the pencil strokes instead of erasing them. Leaving an ugly grey stain on the canvas that needs several layers of white acrylic paint to be covered up. So my pencil sketches on canvas had to be right the first time. Luckily I knew the drawing very well as I had practiced it many times in the past days.

Posca paint markers

Due to the short and tight deadline, I decided to use Posca paint markers. They make it possible to speed up the paint process and have a consistent color scheme. And I needed that consistency to save more time by using a limited color scheme of four colors.

Working at night

Because of other responsiblities and my current projects as a freelance UX Designer, I had to do a large part of the work starting after 21.00h. But I like the atmosphere of the night. It's quiet outside. There are no distractions in the form of phone calls or e-mails and with some energizing music in the background, I managed to stay awake and not making any major errors untill approximately 02.30h. This proved a great way to finish a project with such a tight deadline.

Finished artwork

Like to see the final result? Check out the 'Keep calm and think of new recipes'-artwork in the section with commissioned artworks.

If you like to stay up-to-date with new artworks and developments, please check and follow me on Instagram.

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More blogposts by Dutch artist Mr. Upside

Commissioned painting 'Ecosystem' for Dutch telecommunications provider KPN

We both stood with cake on a paper saucer in our hands. Around us colleagues were having animated conversations. For me this was a familiar situation. Being a Freelance UX Designer for 8 years now, I had many of these ‘thank you and good bye’ occasions here.

"What are you going to do?" the Director Online asked.
"I would like to devote more time to my art", I replied.
"Can you show me your work?"
“Sure!"

I grabbed my laptop, connected it to the brand new super large tv-screen and typed the URL of my online art portfolio I had quickly and silently launched two months before. While I was in the middle of giving a brief introduction to my plans and notes on old work, the Managing Director interrupted me.

"What should such a work of yours cost?”.

No prices where shown on the website. I mentioned a global price.

“Ok. I'd like to have one for the department. But make sure it has something to do with KPN.”.

I just witnessed my very first painting being commissioned.

In March 2015 I left the UX design project I had been working on for almost a year, to spent more time on my art. To thank the KPN ‘Mobile Sales’ department for their trust and confidence in my abilities as a designer, I bought pastries. But the very last thing I expected was to walk out the door with a commission for a painting.

Commissioned painting for Dutch telecommunications provider KPN

The following weeks I sketched as if my life depended on it, regularly sending updates to the client, neatly presented in a PDF. As Mr. Upside I wanted the painting to convey a positive message. Out of two possible options in the first round, the client selected the ‘Ecosystem’ theme. And added another of complexity by adding three extra keywords.

The telecommunications market, a large organization like KPN and especially the Mobile Sales department I worked at, are shown as living and growing ecosystems. It is a life cycle in which screens or communication are sold 24/7. KPN does not actively recycle any products but every sold ‘screen’ adds to the ecosystem by providing an opportunity to buy even more screens. In the painting the staff is symbolised by a warm and friendly female person who is connected to her colleagues by head phones. The head phones symbolise the focussed listening to clients. Who on their turn are represented by bees.

To keep the work accessible and approachable, I chose an illustrative and figurative form. During the sketching phase it became obvious that to accomplish the desired symmetrical and graphical look, the illustration had to start in a digital form. This would allow me to quickly select the proper color combinations and easy compositioning.

It did not always go as smooth as expected though. One of the things I did not assess well was the opacity of some acrylic paints. Which resulted in covering most parts of the painting with three layers of acrylic paint. And my pursuit of a clean illustrative style ensured that I sometimes got lost in the details.

Despite the very extensive process I am very grateful for the rare opportunity of being commissioned to deliver such a large painting in such an early stage of the my art career.

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