This was a new one on me. My friend, Angie, has bought herself a Little Guy trailer and plans to… well… travel in it.

She asked me to paint something special on it for her since it’s so little, she won’t be able to take any home decor items. I’ve painted on different things before like this plastic table, but never a travel trailer!

Angie had a favorite painting she bought a while back. She understood I couldn’t recreate it because of copyrights, but I could capture a similar 1950’s Glamour Girl vibe the painting had. It turned out great and Angie is so pleased. Let me show you how I did it.

Initial sketches for Glamour Girl

First, I had to come up with an idea. The vibe was 1950’s glamour girl. I sketched out a couple sketches but somehow they turned out 1980’s looking to me. One looks like a cross between Tori Spelling and Frankenstein! So I picked the one I liked best and starting revising it to look more 1950’s glamour girl ish.

Getting there… not quite

So the above sketch is probably round 3 or 4. Some changes were so minor you have to know what you’re looking for so I didn’t include every one of them.

Here’s the Glamour Girl I ended up with. I think it was sketch revise # 8.

Changed the vanity to just an oval mirror

Research was needed on what kind of paint can handle outdoors and stay on fiberglass. I found one called OneShot, but it’s not found locally and she’s on a tight schedule. Plus, it’s kinda pricey.

That lead to a little more digging. I remember using some glass paint by DecoArt in the past so I looked them up.

DecoArt didn’t list fiberglass, so I called the company and they happily helped me out. They thought that it would work, but they actually had not ever tested it out on fiberglass. They were confident so I proceeded with their product called Americana Multi-Surface Satin.

I was really happy to find out I needed no primer or sanding beforehand. From the videos I saw of painting RV’s I was thinking this would be a big job. Nope, just prep the surface with a cotton ball and alcohol and it’s ready to go! Yeee ha!

After transferring my illustration with carbon paper to save time over free handing it (like I did the sketch) I was ready to add paint . It was the worst day to use paint in a garage… it rained the whole day and so wet feeling that my sketch paper felt wilted but everything was okay in the end.

Painting of the 1950’s Glamour Girl

I’ve got the base down.

I bought a black and two greys plus white and red. I was told by DecoArt that if you blend the colors it takes a longer period to cure. Like I said Angie was on a limited time schedule so I tried to keep blending to a minimum otherwise I would’ve only needed black, white and red.

The paint is thin. It required at least two coats for full coverage and in some cases three for the white over the dark. I added red and she started to come to life.

Added the first coat of red.

After the red, polka dots and more touches of white for highlights and she is cute as can be.

Polka dots, white touch ups and she’s done!

While we were at it, I added a quick stylized version of Marilyn Monroe on the other side of the camper. Now she’s got 2 1950 Glamour Girls!

1950’s Ultimate Glamour Girl Marilyn Monroe

The other side of the Little Guy Trailer

Here are the remaining photos of the Little Guy Travel trailer with the 1950’s Glamour Girl painted on its side. Now Angie has some style added to her new traveling home!

See the inside! Tiny but efficient.

Next day was sunny and better for photos.

In all, the project took me two days plus research and sketching time. I had to wait for the paint to completely dry before adding an extra coat, so had it dried faster I could’ve finished it in a day.

The 1950’s style is different for me but it just goes to show, just because you paint a certain way doesn’t mean you can’t do another style. I’m open to commissions now and then if the project is right so contact me if you’re interested in having a unique piece of art made just for you!

If you see Angie driving down the road give her a honk and wave! She’s going to have a travel blog to record her journey. I’m excited for her. I’ll post her blog here soon – or really a vlog because it’s going to be done on YouTube. You and I both can follow her travels in a super cute Little Guy trailer with my paintings on it.

Jaime (l) and Angie (r) with our Glamour Girl