Sunday, December 4, 2011

How to create a faux painting from posters



I have this one poster that I love. It is a print of a painting by Avery Tillmon. I always loved it and I got in at Michael's on sale a while back. I had it framed but I always wanted to make it into a "fake" painting. One day when I was at Michael's they had the other other part "A day at the sea" on sale for $5. In the course of the redecoration of the living room I was only waiting for a sale on canvasses so I can turn my posters into masterpieces. Well, that day came. I got the - BUY ONE - GET ONE FOR A CENT - I payed 27.99 for two 22x28.







This is what I used!

1. Posters
2. Canvas (nothing fancy just a regular one)
3. Gesso (you can get it at the oil paint section at Michael's)
4. Mod Podge (I used shiny finish)
5. Foam roller from the dollar store
6. Glue
7. Paint brushes
8. Acrylic paint (I had to touch up the painting)

1. First I covered the entire canvas in mod podge with a foam roller.



2. I laid the poster onto the canvas and made sure I had no creases or air bubbles. I turned the canvas poster down on the floor and used my hands to work from the inside out so minimize air bubbles and creases.

3. I covered the painting in gesso with the foam roller. At that stage I had a LOT of bubbles and creases I was not impressed so I pulled the wet and sticky poster off the canvass and laied it back on. This seemed to help a bit but it wasn't perfect.



4. I put a layer of mod podge on the gesso and waited for it to dry a bit and then just gently pushed down on the air bubbles. You have to wait until the mod podge is not too sticky to the touch because if you touch the poster the poster will stick to your fingers and it will get a white spot. That happened to me in a couple of places.

5. After that you have to fold the edges of the poster over (if the poster is bigger than the canvas) and glue it down with glue. Make sure apply another coat of mod podge on the edges and canvas so it really sticks in place.

6. Once you have taken out the air bubbles and let the layer on mod podge dry you can apply another layer of mod podge.



7.  In order to get the "painting" look you can use a regular paint brush, use a little more of the mod podge to give it some dimension and paint like the artist would have on the painting. Clouds, people, sky: make sure you can see the brush strokes. LET DRY.

8.  To get even more dimension you can use some regular glue and apply it in the same matter. In my case I have painted the clouds, mountains, dog and people with glue to make it stand out more. Make sure you use glue that will dry clear.



9.  So now I had to fix the white spots where the poster came off. I used my acrylic paint to blend the colors as closely as possible to the original and then just painted it in.

10.  At the end I applied a couple of coats of mod podge so that the whole painting had a uniform gloss to it.

It took me about 2.5 hours of work (+ drying time in between)

I WOULD RECOMMEND TO ONLY USE MOD PODGE OR ANY OTHER DECOUPAGING GLUE. I AM NOT SURE WHY I READ I SHOULD USE THE GESSO. IT WAS QUITE EXPENSIVE AND NOT NECESSARY IN MY OPINION.

 I think for my first try it looks great. I think our sad eating area has the right beach feel now.




You can see the "brush stokes" created with the glue and mod podge

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