I have been really excited to see some of you do distressed photo canvases!
Some of you have also expressed having some trouble with the method. I hope you hung on to any “messed” up canvases because today I am going to show you how to turn those lemons into lemonade! —>
First…
here are some finished projects from a couple of readers:
Twin Inspiration made these of her twins – a boy and a girl. Nice work! I like how evenly she distressed the canvases too. She even solicited help from her husband. Smart!
Kim made this really cool one of her and her husband’s shoes from their wedding day. Those are some rockin’ heels! {sorry Kim…I don’t have a blog address for you if you have one. Comment and I will put it on if you do}
Kim also did another canvas that didn’t work out. She used the right gel medium at first but second guessed herself and got another kind that didn’t. Well don’t worry Kim or anyone else that has had this trouble. You can still salvage that canvas!
Remember when I made the truck collage canvas? Well the first time around I used a shiny cardstock because that is all the printer had in a larger size paper. It did not work. Even worse? It was STUCK on there. I worked and worked at it and there was so much paper still stuck on there.
I abandoned trying to remove the paper and decided to paint it and then try again.
*These {and many more to come} were taken at night with my pocket camera for convenience sake. I often craft while watching TV at night in my living room. So this kind of picture quality for the how-to parts of my projects will become a regular part of my tutorials. 🙂 Hope nobody minds. As long as you can see it clearly…right? Right.
So I painted it to my liking and then let it dry completely.
Then I blew up this image from a free printable I found online. I CANNOT draw. I almost thought about drawing something and then freehand painting it onto the canvas…then I woke up to reality and instead decided to try transferring a cool image to the canvas...using my gel medium tutorial. *I suggest using a free printable site since they are already giving you permission to use their image.
It worked great! I was nervous that the acrylic paint would come off a little but it didn’t. This project was inspired by Jessica’s from Happy Together. She paints wood and then transfers a posterized image onto it.
I have been getting some emails with similar questions. I thought that posting answers here would be helpful to everyone so here we go:
Q: What kind of gel medium do I use?
Make sure that you use this kind of gel medium pictured below. I don’t think “gloss” is required. Matte works fine, just get this brand/type of gel medium. The softer and thicker/harder variations may or may not work. I don’t know personally. Let me know if you find out! 🙂
Q: What kind of paper do I use?
Use the cheap 20# white paper. It works the best. As I have mentioned before… I have used the other kinds and it DID not work! Do not use photo paper or actual photos. It will not work. You must use regular copy paper with an image that has been printed in laser toner. You can tell by looking at the image too. It almost looks as if there is a layer of “ink” {but really toner} on top of the paper. With INK you can tell that it has soaked into the paper.
Other tips:
Be careful when removing the paper. A sponge I hear works well. I just use my fingers to rub the paper away.
Find an image that is forgiving…especially for your first time. You want an image that would look good distressed and a bit messy.
Some people have had better luck than me on this…but I always end up with just a bit of paper residue that is white. I make sure that my canvas is white or has white areas (like with the bike canvas) so that the image blends in. Otherwise it would look pasted on. Again…if you make sure the image looks good “shabby” then it is easier to blend in this rough around the edges look.
If you have tried this project I would love to see it and feature you! Just contact me. Thanks!
Oooh, thanks for showing us how to use our failed attempts. I really cannot bring myself to throw them away, so I'll have to try this.
BTW, this is Kim and I loved my wedding shoes! I don't really have a crafty blog or anything, just one about my personal life mostly.
Thanks for featuring my project! I have a couple more to email you. I love doing them!!
I love to hear that Kim. I can't wait to see your others and will feature them when I get them!
Where can I find the full tutorial for transferring the image?
Here’s an updated version: http://www.deliacreates.com/yellow-distressed-canvas-updated/
very cool stuff! I really need to give it a try. have a good holiday! 🙂
Thanks so much for showing my canvases on your blog. My husband was also pleased that he got some credit. I love the ideas you feature on your blog.
that is gorgeous! wow… i am a little intimidated to try this but it looks so beautiful…. i simply need to have an enormous shoe on my wall and THIS is how i will make it happen!!!
i loooooooooove your gel medium canvas art, and ever since i first saw you post about it i thought i HAVE to try it! i still have to try it, and i just might do it soon 🙂 i'm dying for carlos and lucas canvases!
The bicycle is so cool!
I have to try this…so awesome. Passing on this blog award to you from http://mbellishedyou.blogspot.com/2010/06/blog-award.html
I love your blog!
Hi Delia! I featured your ABC distressed art today!
http://oopsey-daisy.blogspot.com/2010/06/wednesdays-wowzers.html
Have a fabulous day!
~Alison
Sorry, I forgot to take a photo, I did it so quickly and gave it the same day I finished! However I need to tell you how wonderfully it worked out and what I did differently. I used the cheapest wood plaque I found at Walmart (unfortunately there is no JoAnns or Michaels or anything cool like that by me). I got small 5×7's since one of my photos was an old recipe card and it would look odd
Hello Miss Delia!
I am a fellow Mormon Crafty Mom and I have been reading your blog for a while and loving it!
I am doing this gel medium canvas project and I have been trying to follow your tips to the T, but it's still not coming out like I would like it. I thought I would pick your brain…..
I am trying to get them to look less shabby and more uniform. I
I feel like I’m late to the party! I found a tutorial for the canvas art on Pinterest a month ago and fell in love with it. I have most of the stuff to actually try now. I bought 10 mine canvases to practice on and 2 kinds of gel medium so I could really experiment with it. I also want to try putting a light source behind the pictures. (I think a light border would be awesome!) Anyhow, I wanted to let you know I love your walk-throughs and will definitely be scouring through your blog for new ideas regularly now!! Oh! I just started blogging, but I’ll definitely be putting my projects on there while I do them. You can find me at alifeaskew.wordpress.com
Awesome. Thank you! The light source idea sounds really cool. Best of luck with the blog!
Hey Delia,
I just wanted to say that I love love this idea. Was wondering what to do for Mother's Day & this is it. I am pretty new to crafting and always doubtful that mine projects will turn out but this worked beautifully. Thanks so much!
– Michelle
What a great idea! I hope all went well.