Popculture Portrait

Fool anyone into thinking you could be the next Andy Warhol.

I am not a painter in any shape or form.  I can barely hold a paintbrush without shaking tremendously..  This tutorial will allow even the most  dysfunctional painter to create a beautiful pop culture portrait painting.

I first found these instructions in Better Homes and Gardens Do It Yourself magazine issue winter 2011 but have tweaked them to help out a little more.

Supplies needed:  Picture frame ( I got mine at the dollar store), Good quality black and white photo (simplicity is key here), 1 vibrant acrylic paint colour (I used red), white acrylic paint, Paintbrushes (fine for thin lines and a medium size), Sponge or spongebrush.

Here is my original photo.  I then used my computer to change it to black and white and played with the contrast so it is easier to detect where the shading should go.

Place the black and white photo under the glass and either tape it or clip it into place to secure.  Take your fine brush and the white acrylic and trace all the white intricate lines and dab where ever there are larger amounts of white on the picture.  Take care to follow hari strands, this does not need to be perfect but if you do make a mistake it wipes off easily.  You could also use a razor when it has dried and scrape away anything that is out of place.  Let dry completely.

Now take your fine brush again and using your choice of coloured acrylic trace the outline of the face and any contour and laugh lines.  Dab in colour on any black parts of your photo.  Let dry completely. 

Note:  I have a lot of dark color bcause this was a night shot photo.  If you noticed my blog cover, those portraits barely have any dark in them.

Mix your coloured acrylic with a bit of white making a slightly lighter shade.  Take care not to make it to light as we will be lightening again in the next stage.  Once you have found a good colour, dab over the top of all the darkest lines you created.  Dab in any shaded areas that act as contours also.  Let dry completely.

Make your lightest shade.  It needs to be lighter than the other two shades but darker than the white.  Take your sponge and completely cover your entire pane of glass.  Let dry completely.

Take the photo off the glass, turn the glass around and insert back into frame.  VOILA! Your popculture masterpiece.  The best part of this project is that you can always wash the glass with soap and water and start again if you're not completely happy with it.  My first go at it I ended up washing it 4 times before I was happy with the final outcome and had perfected my technique.

 

This is the first one I have done with 2 people and I'm not happy with it.  Too much open space.  I'm going to try cropping the pic so I have more of their faces and less openness.  Will post once I finish it.

The Many Faces of............

These are a few of my photo collages that I do.  Each one is done different.  The more pictures I have the better they turn out.

A New Adventure

Well here it is, my first attempt at starting a blog.  I was inspired to start this by using Pinterest.  After spending countless hours viewing pins, I finally decided to get off my arse and try some of the "creative inspirations" I had found and continue to find.
As I set out to load some of my art I noticed there was no where to post anything of my own.  That's when the lightbulb went off over my head.  "I should start a blog."  I have seen many blogs and have friends and family with their own blogs and figured it can't be to hard.
So here I am, hoping I have the ability to put into words and pictures my chaotic creations.  (I say this because my house thrives on chaos and we wouldn't want it any other way.) What I plan on doin is sharing with my family, friends and others out there my creative adventures; how they turned out, my trials and tribulations of each adventure with step by step information.
I believe I am quite creative and as my children grow I still find myself surrounded in my crafty chaos corner (We have limited living space and I have many projects on the go at all times lol), making and creating things on my own.
So bear with me as I begin my new adventures and share them with you and the great world wide web. 

Cheers to all things beautiful!