Painting bookshop windows

Everything I know in excruciating detail

I’ve got a book coming out on May 9th so I’m beginning to think about painting bookshop windows again. I get asked for window painting tips by fellow illustrators quite often so I thought it would be helpful to write a post about it here.

When I started thinking about painting bookshop windows last year, I found two incredibly helpful posts, from Jane Porter and Katie Chappell. They cover the most important stuff but here is how I went about it…

Posca pens are great, as are these window painting pens which wipe off really easily. Some people use Woody Pencils. But the most affordable material is acrylic paint. I found I used a lot. Particularly white. The thing with windows is that because you paint the inside of the window but people view your work from the outside, you have to start with the top layer (I.e the details - for example the pupil of the eye, followed by the white of the eye, followed by the rest of the face) and work backwards so the last thing you paint is the background.

I found that if I did the details in posca pen they would get smudged or moved once I added the paint and that was super annoying. If you’re really careful you can sponge over the top of it. Acrylic paint for the first details was more stable, and you can use the pen again at the end, or keep it separate from the paint. This is a key thing to practice on your windows at home.

The animals in my first book have a moire effect (like the spots which make up the tone in a newspaper). I used a stencil for the spots and also ended up making a stencil for the outline of the animal shape to save time. So it went like this: 1. Eyes, 2. Spots, 3. Fur 4. Hair, tails, ears, beaks etc. I used a sponge with the stencils which worked well and was less streaky than a brush. My book was screen printed and I really struggled to get that flat look on a window. I never completely succeeded but I just had to accept that it’s a different process and so the results will always be different.

Practicing at home is crucial, as is giving yourself enough time on the day of the window painting. I turned up as soon as the staff arrived to give me as much time as possible. In the end I think each window took me about three hours but the weather was hot (boiling in those windows!) so the acrylic paint dried fast. Claire Alexander showed me a great tip if you don’t want your acrylic to dry out too fast in any situation, she wet a kitchen towel, placed it on a palette and then put greaseproof paper or similar on top which you then put the paint on. The damp paper towel slows down the drying time.

Here’s what I took with me:

Acrylic paint

Palette

Brushes

Sponges

Pot to wash brushes in

Lots of kitchen roll

Stencils

Masking tape

Title of my book printed out in reverse large enough to fill the window

Props (see below)

Apron/boiler suit

Water to drink

Snacks to eat

Tripod to film Timelapse

Lipstick to jazz myself up for the photos

Pencil to sign books

Once you know which windows you’re painting, ask the bookshop for dimensions. This is really important so you know how big to print out any templates you’re using, and also, some windows are HUGE (hello Nomad Books!) and take longer. I printed out the title and my name in reverse which I stuck to the outside of the window and then drew them on the inside. I did find posca easiest for this as one coat is good enough but with paint you really need two and it’s hard to get the second layer completely aligned with the first. The other way I did this was to stick the title (the right way round) on the inside, then trace it on the outside in one of these window pens, then go back inside and draw it properly and then erase the pen on the outside. I’m not sure I have a preference, both ways worked. I guess if it was raining it’d be good not to have to be sticking paper on an outside window.

The final thing I did, and I’m really glad I did this, was to make some props to put inside the windows. In my case I made a cutout of my main character and some packets and tins which appeared in the story. When I was having doubts about whether or not the window painting was good enough I was pleased that I had these extra little bits and pieces to pull it all together.

Once the windows were finished, the bookseller would dress the window.

Here are some windows I’ve seen that I think are extra special

Bia Melo for Nomad Books

Ella Beech for The Kew Bookshop

Tess Smith Roberts for Phlox Books

Looking at these again I feel I really want to up my window painting game. How DO you paint an invisible dog on a window?

Finally I’d say that window painting is quite exhausting so don’t try and fit in seven windows in seven days! I did five windows for my first book over about a fortnight which felt doable. Some of the shops I had a relationship with already but most were organised by my wonderful Publicist Emma O’Donovan. Also I would advise against booking anything in immediately after your window painting, there’s nothing worse than having the deadline of a school pick-up / dentist appointment looming when you’re struggling with a tricky giraffe.

Please add your tips below, I’d love to know your experiences too!