Not So Angry Birds...My Biggest Canvas Painting To Date

I was hosting an art exhibit at work and got inspired by a couple of extremely large pieces of a transfer images of people on a flat bed sheet. I realized I've never worked large and decided I should use this opportunity as a self challenge. So off I went to Michaels with a 40% off coupon on a rainy Friday afternoon.

The canvas I purchased for $20 and then used existing acrylic paints. Just so you have an idea of the size... it was about 4.5 feet by 2.5 feet. The primary method I used was basically using acrylics like they were watercolors and various stamping techniques. I first took green and yellow shads of paint, watered them down and used up and down brush strokes throughout the entire canvas. This was my base coat. Because it was so watered down it created a resistant effect which looked pretty neat.

When the bottom layer had completely dried I then got 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper and cut them in half. I used fall colors (because that was my muse) and using those shades of color I put them one at a time on the half sheets of paper, watered them down then stamped it on the large canvas using my hand to burnish the paint on. I did this over the entire canvas and let it dry.

The third layer was of birds. I found three images online, enlarged them to about 8.5 x 11, printed several of each out and modified them as I cut them out to create simplified images. I took white indoor paint (because I ran out of acrylic white) and put a THICK coat on each image and stamped them on the painting. When the birds were partially dry I took some of the solid block prints and reapplied them over the birds just enough to add some color without covering the images.

And that was it! All done! I'm pretty pleased at the outcome and proud of myself for getting over my fear of large paintings. In hindsight I would have liked to try to add some various words mixed in the layers. I think that could have added an interesting look. Perhaps my next painting I'll give it a whirl!

Below are some of the steps but not all to this process. Sorry I forgot to take pictures each step of the way.

DIY Coat Rack

I created this coat hanger from all recycled materials. I took a piece of 80 year old gumwood molding (it was a small piece of baseboard from my home that wasn't being used) and cut it to size. The edges were routered. This made it look pretty nice on it's own. Then I filled in any uneven surfaces with wood filler and sanded smooth when dry. I used acrylic paints to paint the background and chose asian symbols that had the meaning I was going for and applied with a black sharpie marker. I had a few left over hooks from a converted closet in my house (again they were goldish in color and 80 years old). I scrubbed the hooks down and applied three even coats of a flat black rustoleum spray paint. Drilled holes on the front for the hooks and then a couple of holes on the back for hanging purposes. Tada... you have the final product...a pretty good looking coat rack for free!

Homemade Cards

I'm currently taking a 6 week community art class through Genesee Center for the Arts & Education. Check out their site: http://www.geneseearts.org/ The class I'm taking is

Collage: Mail Art. It's a blast! I'm learning new creative transfer techniques, get to explore with no grades or stress involved and I'm meeting new people. What could be better!

I received the tools I need to create transfers on my own for my birthday. This is all you need to do a pretty good transfer.

-tape

-scissors

-fresh black and white or colored images/words printed from a laser printer (not an

inkjet!) and (remember if you use anything with words you need to reverse the image before printing or your words will transfer backwards). **Best transfers are images printed within 1-2 days of when you will be using them.

-bone folder or something to burnish with (like a coin)

-"blender pen"- this brand works the best- Chartpak Blender Marker P-O. Not found at craft stores. Here we have The Art Store and Hyatt Art Materials or you can find it on amazon but the shipping is expensive. About 4.50 for the marker itself.

I found these great packages of blank cards with envelopes; all different shapes, colors and sizes for $1 for a pack of 8! I've decided for Christmas gifts I'm going to use these for gifts and bundle each set with a pretty ribbon. Right now they are just the transfer image. I'm still taking the class and I'm going to be learning some stamping and other neat techniques that I may later add to the cards. Also, I'm still working on some of the images and might do some over laying of words or other images on some. Check out the beginning of my collection sets. :)

The Vintage Collection

The Landscape Collection

The Inspiration Collection