Alyice on March 21st, 2008

Anniversary Canvas

After fussing with my inappropriate household lights I finally have a photo of the most recent canvas I’ve been working on. I seriously need to save up for some indoor lights designed specifically for photographers!

The couple, in this canvas, was married 53 years ago and has eight lovely children, 24 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren. They’re now in their late 70s and this canvas was made to honor their lifelong love affair. It will hang in their daughter’s home—she’s the sixth child in the family.

This canvas took a week to complete between layers and drying time, but I think it was worth it. I started by painting gesso on the canvas. Then I painted the entire canvas orange. When the paint dried, I added crackle plaster around the edges of the canvas.

My original intention was to give the entire piece a weathered, worn look so I covered the orange center with a layer of crackle. I was supposed to wait until it got tacky to add the next color so that when it dried it would give the appearance of worn paint. Unfortunately, living in South Dakota, during winter leaves the basement where I paint rather cold and the crackle just wouldn’t settle. Irritated, I simply painted over it and let it dry over night.

The next day I printed the two photos and sprayed them with Workable Fixatif by Krylon to prevent the ink from spreading when I covered it with decoupage paint and glued it onto the canvas. After adding the two photos to the canvas, I let it dry for about an hour before adding molding paste around the photos to complete the textured look I was going for. While the molding paste was still wet, I inserted heart-shaped cut outs and let the canvas dry over night.

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Then the fun began! I began painting the top of the canvas. Only there was one problem. I wasn’t too thrilled with the plain sides, so I stopped painting and began adding molding paste to each side of the canvas, shaping the molding paste into cute swirls. Of course that meant another day of drying.

Finally, I was ready to paint! The canvas has many layers of colors, though you can’t tell by looking at it. By painting many layers on top each other I am able to achieve a depth of color that I can’t get by simply mixing the colors. Of course, it’s also because sometimes I think I like a particular color only to discover that it simply didn’t fit the piece. All in all, I probably have about 15 to 20 thin layers of paint on this canvas.

After drying for a day, I began adding the varnish. It’s important to add more than one coat of varnish, especially when using crackle paste because it’s very light and flakey. Between drying times I ended up with five coats of varnish and three more coats on the photos themselves.

I wish you could really experience the texture in this canvas. It’s so much fun to run your fingers across and to pick out little patterns and designs.

If you like this style of combining photos with art and objects, drop me an email or visit my online shop at AlyiceEdrich.net. I’d love to custom create something for you!

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