At the end of 2018 I posted illustrated packaging of De Koffiejongens on Instagram. It was a self-initiated project and super awesome to do. But I never thought it would lead to all kinds of fun assignments. Like this one, for Art 2 Go interior projects.

Art 2 Go interior projects

Art 2 Go interior projects design, realise and supervise larger interior architecture and styling projects. Mainly within the hospitality sector. This is also the case with the new, large world-class restaurant “Lucky Apple” in Waalwijk. Lucky Apple is a family restaurant. With a separate children’s room. The room is separated from the restaurant by a wall. I was asked to provide an illustration on this wall.

Doodle style

The illustration was made in the unique Mr. Upside doodle style, in which I draw (‘doodle’) all kinds of fictional cartoon characters. There is always something going on with every character. Something happens to it. Or the character has special properties. E.g. a viking with braids often returns in my illustrations. And it has a birdhouse coming out of his helmet. Just to give an example of the weirdness of the creations.

Pancakes

Erik Remmers, owner of Art 2 Go, sent me an email in October 2018. He was looking for an illustration on a wall in a pancake restaurant.

That illustration would explain how pancakes are made. So where the ingredients come from (chicken, cow and grain) and how ultimately a pancake is baked. However, the available budget turned out to be very limited, so I had to pass the project.

World cuisine going over budget

World kitchen style
At the end of March 2019, Art 2 Go approached me again. This time for a new restaurant, ‘world kitchen’-style, in Waalwijk. Erik sent me super beautiful realistic 3D artist impressions.

The large restaurant would have a separate children’s area. To draw the attention of visitors to that children’s area, the idea was to cover the wall with a unique Mr. Upside illustration. In doodle style. This time we came to an agreement on time and costs.

Too optimistic
I started immediately because I was super stoked on this beautiful project. How cool is it when your drawing shines on a wall of almost 13 m2? But soon it became apparent that I had made a slightly over-optimistic estimate in my enthusiasm.

To meet my (ever-higher) requirements, illustrating for example, turned out to be much slower than estimated. Not one line met my high standards. Now, to be honest, ‘going over-budget’ is not an exception for most of my projects. That is no problem either. After all, I am the one who does the “extra” work. And the result is usually cool.

But this project started to consume enormous amounts of my time. In the end, I probably spent four or five times more time than budgeted. Fortunately it all fit within the Art 2 Go schedule and they were a very patient client. A great lesson!

Adobe Draw on an Apple iPad Pro

Way of working
My way of working with this project was no different than any other. I sketched directly on an iPad Pro in Adobe Draw, with an Apple Pencil. Just like I would sketch on paper. If you are interested, view the work-in-progress videos on my Instagram TV.

Without limits and loss of quality
Adobe Draw is Adobe Illustrator but on the iPad. Everything you draw is therefore not build up in pixels but in vectors. This allows the illustrations to be enlarged with no limits and without loss of quality. Very useful if your drawing is going to be printed on wallpaper on a 13m2 wall.

When I feel the sketches are good enough, I make their layer semi-transparent. And place a new layer on top it with the ‘ink’.

Extra challenge
This illustration had additional challenges. Mainly due to the unique shape of the wall. The ascending line of the stairs and the two doors in the wall cut the available space in smaller awkward pieces. Challenging!

Eat, sleep, repeat
A challenge that I would accept again. Even though such a project provides an hourly rate for which I am better off flipping hamburgers at a well-known hamburger restaurant.