As Shelagh Swanson carefully painted delicate strokes across a doorway, passers by would stop to ask if she had permission.

Bringing a splash to colour to the gloomy door on Windmill Brae in Aberdeen, the artist was inspired by a painting called Learning to Fly and palette in hand gave the entrance a much-needed makeover.

It was the first doorway to be transformed as part of an initiative to brighten forgotten areas in the Granite City, and as she worked, a technicolour dream emerged stroke by stroke, a fairytale-like story of a young girl meeting a mermaid.

"When I paint these narrative and figurative works, I work instinctively, not working from an actual design, but allowing the work to develop whilst painting," Shelagh explains.

"So, before starting, I had an overall idea, similar to Learning to Fly, but allowed the design to develop naturally."

Shelagh's painted doorway sparked an inquisitiveness in the public, and soon other artists from across the city were bringing their markers, paints and chalks into doorways to begin creating starry-eyed bears, dripping doughnuts and pathways to other worlds with their tools.

Shelagh says: "Now the project is fully underway, the public's reaction has been amazing, with so many compliments about the door itself, and many eager to see more projects like this in Aberdeen.

"I'm really pleased with my final design and hope it will spark the imagination of visitors, whilst adding a splash of colour to a bit of a dark corner of Windmill Brae."

The project is the first of its kind in Scotland, inspired by a similar scheme in Maderia, Portugal as a way to bring colour to the city, transforming 12 doors from Langstane Place and Windmill Brae to The Green and Correction Wynd.

It's part of a summer-long initiative to bring culture to the city centre of Aberdeen by business-led group Aberdeen Inspired.

Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, said: "Our Summer of Art campaign is about making art and culture accessible to all, as well as being a great way to utilise and brighten up spaces in the city centre."

So far, the campaign has brought street art to the arches at Union Terrace Gardens, painted by both local and international artists, as well as a piano project called Play Me, I'm Yours, which encouraged passers by to stop for a moment and tinkle the ivories of donated instruments placed in public places.

Adrian adds: "We are sure that our Painted Doors project will prove just as popular and add vibrant and fun splashes of colour to the city centre. It will be fantastic to see the artworks pop up on doors throughout the city centre."

Here's some of the other artists who are taking part in the project describing their works of art.

Cosmic Nuggets

"All my illustrative work is based around an imagined universe filled with curious creatures and alien species.

"My arts practice is often focused on character design and the door I worked on gave me a great opportunity to put one of my creatures into the wilds of Aberdeen! I just need some more doors to practice upon!

"I feel the whole project was simply amazing. I've been creating artwork in and around Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire for many years, and finally I could share some of my art with the wonderful people of the city I know so well."

Tomasz Wróbel

"I am really glad that I was invited to take part in the Painted Doors project and given the opportunity to create a mural on one of the doors at The Green.

"I recently started my own project with series of canvases. One of them 'Lost Light' was already exhibited at my own Newave Gallery on the Castlegate and I took the inspiration from it. I didn't use any references and was aiming to create a surreal image in the heart of Aberdeen City.

"There is a lock in the centre of the door which I decided to use and paint over. I used the shape of it and extended to create a tower. That gave me the idea for title so I named it 'Locked Tower '.

"It was a very warm and sunny day at The Green and I really enjoyed painting the door. I am satisfied with the final result and I received a positive feedback from friends, family and other artists."

Mary Louise Butterworth

"As arts co-ordinator for the project, it's been a fantastic project to work on for the city with so many lovely and talented people, I can't wait to see more doors from the artists I have lined up.

"The optical illusion of the exit appealed to me, the dramatic lighting and man on his phone creating a bit of mystery is a theme that frequently runs through my work.

"It's actually based on the interior of the Hauser & Wirth gallery in New York which I visited recently. I loved the contrast of bringing that established art gallery to an old fire exit door and painting it on a forgotten corner of the Green.

"With it being a gallery interior it also had a nice symmetry for me - working as co-ordinator on the Painted Doors project itself, where the doors are artwork and our streets have become the gallery."

Ade Adesina

"My work is a visual commentary around the ideas of ecology and our ever-changing world. I am fascinated by how the human footprint is affecting our planet.

"Our world is full of wonderful landscapes and I wish to highlight the continual damage caused through things such as deforestation, the politics of energy consumption, and endangered wild species.

"The door is not finished yet. I'm planning on spending couple of hours on it on Monday. I decided to use bright colour because I mostly work in black and white and I wanted to do something different. The area is completely grey and I thought it won't be a good idea to do something black and white."

Katie Guthrie

"My work explores our relationship with colour and everyday familiar objects which I like to give a persona through character.

"Food in particular is a topic I'm really interested in as it's a subject almost all of us can relate to and one that's become an obsession of modern society with us constantly being reminded what's good and bad for us, warnings which we often choose to ignore as we're seduced by the sickly sweet aesthetic of junk food.

"Dunkin, the character featured on my door is a character I created after watching the hysteria build around a particular doughnut chain that opened up in Aberdeen. He's bright and cheery with a slightly unsettling undertone yet accessible enough for both adults and children to connect with.

"He's surrounded by bursting clouds and drops of colourful beans raining down around him, opening up the viewer into an almost edible fantasy world.

"I decided to create this particular piece as I felt a family friendly, burst of colour could bring a bit of warmth and fun to the granite surroundings."