Blog Posts

New Mural at Maccheroni Restaurant, Amsterdam

4/13/2018

New Mural at Maccheroni Italian Restaurant

Just finished a new mural at Maccheroni Italian restaurant in Amsterdam.

The mural measures about 6.5 square metres and is in the main dining/ordering area of the restaurant.

Video:

The painting is also clearly visible from outside so I've worked the design around the logo and lettering on the window:

The painting has also got spot-lights on it so I've added a specific gloss varnish to make the surface of the painting reflect the light:

Interview with the Manager...

Hope you've enjoyed this post - if you'd like to keep-up-to-date with the latest projects then subscribe to the Michael Carlton Art Newsletter.

Mural in Progress...

I've also put together a series of blog posts documenting the progress of the mural
if you'd like to see step-by-step how the piece came together:

See the Mural in Progress

To see the mural in person and to sample some of the delicious pizza and
pasta dishes available from the restaurant visit Maccheroni at
Wittenburgergracht 143, Amsterdam:

www.Maccheroni.nl

Commission a Mural for Your Business or Home...

For more information about commissioning a Michael Carlton Mural for your business or home please get in touch.

Find Out More

Mural at Maccheroni Restaurant - The Finished Product

4/11/2018

Mural at Maccheroni Restaurant -
The Finished Product

PREVIOUS POST

Hope you enjoyed this series of posts - to keep up-to-date with the latest projects subscribe to the Michael Carlton Art Newsletter:

Subscribe for the Latest Updates...

Commission a Mural for Your Home or Business

For more information about commissioning a mural for your home or business
please get in touch or visit the Murals page.

Mural at Maccheroni Restaurant - Phase 5: Outlining and Varnishing

4/11/2018

Mural at Maccheroni Restaurant -
Phase 5: Outlining and Varnishing

PREVIOUS POST

The final stage is the outlining of all the shapes and adding a protective gloss varnish to the painting:

To see the finished painting click below to view the final post in this series:

Final Post: The Finished Product

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Mural at Maccheroni Restaurant - Phase 4: Adding the Colours

4/11/2018

Mural at Maccheroni Restaurant -
Phase 4: Adding the Colours

PREVIOUS POST

Now it's time to start filling the remaining spaces with the new colours until all the white spaces have gone...

As well as the orange, brown and blue I'm also going to be using some metallic gold to give the painting a nice luxurious feel:

Once the new colours have all been added and then wall is filled I can then move to the final phase which is outlining the spaces and adding a protective varnish:

Next Post - Phase 4: Outlining and Protective Varnish...

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Mural at Maccheroni Restaurant - Phase 3: Composition and First Few Shapes

12/13/2017

Mural at Maccheroni Restaurant -
Phase 3: Composition and First Few Shapes

PREVIOUS POST

Now that the border is in place I can start working on the overall composition of the piece and adding the first few colours.

The restaurant itself has quite a lot of square and rectangular shapes in it from all the ovens, cupboards, display screens and pizza boxes so I want to create something along those lines to complement these shapes.

The kitchen area has a lot of metallic colours and greys so colour scheme-wise I want to include some of those colours in the painting:

I'm going to be using a colours scheme based around the orange and back of the restaurant logo, along with some sandal colours to complement the brown furniture in the restaurant, and some bright blues and yellows to offset the darker greys and metallic colours of the kitchen area:

Being in Amsterdam I want to create something that looks quite Dutch whilst at the at same time having a bold Italian look and feel.

To do this I'm going to create a Piet Mondrian-esque painting with a bright and bold colour scheme:

Before I start the painting I need to get a couple of reference lines around which I can build the remaining composition of the painting.

The reference lines will be based around the logo and lettering on the front window:

The 2 black lines frame the logo figure when viewed from outside an also create a compositional space around the counter from the inside.

This creates a dual-viewing effect where the painting looks and feels slightly different when viewed from one angle and position on the inside and another from the outside.

Now I just need to paint the first few colours the starting point for the rest of the colour scheme:

The first and most important initial colour is the orange stripe that passes down the middle area of the painting.

Like the black lines before this orange line links the window logo into the composition of the painting and frames the counter against the edge of the painting.

The orange stripe intersects the orange line of the logo at a 90 degree angle when viewed from outside and sets the painting up for the perpendicular shapes that will follow.

The other 2 colours to set up the initial colour scheme of the painting are a sky-blue in the top left corner of the painting to suggest "outside" and a light pastel brown pillar-shaped colour on the right of the painting (which matches the furniture colour scheme) to suggest "inside".

The orange stripe down the middle is prominent when looking in from outside so within the abstract context of the painting it suggests both "inside" and "outside" and acts as a pivital point between in and out, left and right etc.

Now that the foundation of the painting is complete I can now start adding more colours and shapes knowing that they will all fit in and work well with the surrounding environment of the painting.

Next Post - Phase 4: Adding the Colours

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Mural at Maccheroni Restaurant - Phase 2: Marking Area to be Painted and Black and Gold Border

12/11/2017

Mural at Maccheroni Restaurant -
Phase 2: Marking Area to be Painted and Black and Gold Border

PREVIOUS POST

This mural is going to feature a black and gold border to really bring the piece to life.

The border will be about 10-12cm thick and will run all the way around the edge of the painting:

Measuring out the border

Starting work on the black border

Once the border has been marked out then I can start filling it in with the black and gold coloured paint:

Painting the border

Black and gold paint

When the border is complete I then paint a second coat of acrylic paint over the initial emulsion coat to give the colours a professional sheen:

Completed black and gold border

Black and gold border from inside the restaurant

Now that the border's complete I can start work on the composition of the painting and adding the first few colours and shapes which is featured in the next post in this series:

Next Post - Phase 3: Painting Composition and First Few Colours...

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Michael Carlton Art Newsletter

Mural at Maccheroni Restaurant - Phase 1: Getting to Know the Restaurant and Initial Colour Scheme

12/11/2017

Mural at Maccheroni Restaurant -
Phase 1: Getting to Know the Restaurant
and Initial Colour-Scheme Selection

PREVIOUS

When I first start working on a mural it always takes a few days to get a feel for the place and to come up with a suitable colour scheme and overall composition:

Inside the restaurant

View from behind the counter

Because this is a mural for a business what I want to do is work the colour scheme around the colour and shapes of the logo and the company lettering to create a coherent visual effect in the restaurant.

The logo itself features black and orange and I'm going to use those colours as the foundation of the colour scheme

Maccheroni Logo

The mural will also be featured on a wall that's visible through the main front window of the restaurant so it's going to be important that it doesn't obscure the logo and lettering in the background:

Mural will also be backdrop to front window logo and lettering

When creating a painting like this I'll usually use a combination of both acrylic and emulsion paint to create a dual textured effect:

Using a combination of acrylic and emulsion paint

Going through possible colours of the mural

Once I have a rough idea of the sorts of colours I'll be using I come up with a colour chart and get any paints I don't already have mixed at the paint shop:

As soon as I have a good idea of the sorts of colour I'm going to use I can then move on to Phase 2 of the painting which is measuring out the area to be painted and creating the black and gold border and featured in the following post in this series:

Next Post - Phase 2: Measuring Out Area to be Painted and Black and Gold Border

Latest News

To keep-up-to-date with the latest projects and exhibitions subscribe to the
Michael Carlton Art Newsletter

Mural at Maccheroni Italian Restaurant in Progress

12/9/2017

Mural at Maccheroni Italian Restaurant in Progress

Macaroni Italian Restaurant on Wittenburgergracht, Amsterdam

Wall to be painted...

In this series of posts I'm going to be documenting the progress of a new mural at Maccheroni Italian restaurant on Wittenburgergracht in Amsterdam.

The wall has a surface area of approximately 6.5 square-metres and it's next to the main counter of the restaurant:

Main wall in the restaurant measuring approximately 6.5 square metres

The wall is also clearly visible from the outside so I want to make sure the painting is eye-catching for passing pedestrians to get them to come in and check out the restaurant:

Wall is also visible to passers-by from outside

When creating a mural like this there are various phases of design and production and in this series of posts I'm going to be documenting each phase of the project.

Click on the link below to go to the first post in this series...

Successive posts will be added to the series as the project progresses and moves towards completion.

You can also follow the project as it progresses by following the latest updates on Twitter and Facebook.

The project starts with Phase 1 - Getting to Know the Restaurant and Initial Colour-Scheme Selection

Phase 1 - Getting to Know the Restaurant
and Initial Colour-Scheme Selection

Latest News

To keep-up-to-date with the latest projects and exhibitions subscribe to the
Michael Carlton Art Newsletter

New Mural Commission at Maccheroni Italian Restaurant on Wittenburgergracht

12/5/2017

New Mural Commission

Just been commissioned to paint a 7 square-metre mural at Maccheroni Italian restaurant on Wittenburgergracht...

I'm gonna be posting photos of the mural in progress over the next few days...

...if you'd like to see the piece being created day-by-day then check out the Michael Carlton Art Studio Group for all the behind-the-scenes updates:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/michaelcarltonartstudio/

"I Want a Burger" - Crayon Sketch in Burgermeester Utrechstraat Guestbook

11/22/2017

Michael Carlton Crayon Sketch in Burgermeester Utrechstraat Guestbook

"I Want a Burger" - Crayon Sketch in Burgermeester Utrechtstraat Guestbook