Home is where the heart is..

Rough How-To
Difficulty level -

 

I wanted to share with you, a cheap way to have creative artwork for you walls, or to sit on a desk.

This project was painted onto a cheap photo frame I had in the cupboard. I think I paid about $5 for it.

This frame has the 'mat' or the insert section, so it makes the picture look nicely framed.

This piece is roughly based on a Swedish style of folk painting.

Version 1 - Plain frame



Version 2 - Decorated frame


Ok, pull the frame apart from the back.

You can discard the piece of 'filler' paper, if there is one in your frame. We are going to be painting on a piece of canvas paper from a pad. You could use some other type of paper, if you have it available.

Here is the pad I used.


Now, choose a background colour to paint the paper with.
Make sure it is acrylic paint.

I have used Jo Sonja brand. This is the bottle. The colour is Sand, but any light colour will do.



Let the paint dry, then transfer your design.
You can sketch it on freehand, or you can trace and transfer it.

Here is the line drawing - homeiswhere001 (right click and choose 'save target or link as')


As you can see, mine was roughly sketched on with chalk pencil.

Now, give each object (houses and roofs, not flowers and leaves at this stage), a coat of paint.  When it dries, you will probably need a second coat.


White - titanium white, Yellow - Turners Yellow + White, Red - Geranium, Blue - Harbour Blue.
Your colours don't need to be the same as mine, Im just giving you an indication.

Once dry, then brush (with simple strokes, not blended) some darker versions of the base colours for shadow, then add white to the base colours to stroke highlights.

Add in the windows with a dark colour. Use simple strokes.

Paint in the leaves and flowers.

Let dry.

Now, you want to trim away the excess paper.


And position the painting behind the 'mat', and hold in place with a piece of tape.


You probably want your frame to be in a complimentary colour. What I did was to roughen up the outer frame with a bit of sandpaper, then painted it in the blue.



 

Dry. Assemble.

If you want, you can add some lettering and scrolls to the frame.

by the way, I used a calligraphy pen (nib and holder), with thinned down paint for the lettering.

Happy Painting

Fiona