Painted Window Screens

A good friend asked if I would be willing to paint some window screens for her.  Hmmmm... window screens?  I had never heard of that before, but I was always to try new things.  She send a fascinating video about the history of Window Screen Painting in Baltimore, Maryland.  It is a 102 year old tradition.  Who knew?

Check out the video here -->  Baltimore's Painted Screens

I was excited about the possibility and dove into the project with enthusiasm and a promise of great things to come.

Step one:  Prime the screen, sketch the scene to be painted, and begin adding layers.  This type of painting requires many layers to create bold colors.

Step two:  Add many layers

Step Three:  Once finished with all the layers, spray the entire screen front and back with an outdoor protective polyurethane.

Step Four:  Install the painted window screen on the house.  This one was installed on the kitchen window at the side of the house.








I had the best time painting Crystal Mill on the window screen.  I have now been asked to paint the two front window screens for the same home.  Here are the first three photos of the current process.

Primed window screens 

Scene sketched on and ready for paint

Sky painted in... needs a few more layers

Mountains and foreground blocked in and ready for more layers

I will post more photos as I progress with these window screens.  Enjoy :)