Because I'm a week behind on everything, including New Years, I'm still working on my resolutions. But I think one will be to post one tutorial here per month. But then the internet is FULL of AWESOME tutorials whereas mine tend to be a bit more...hmmm... homespun? Novice? Crappy? So I'm also considering a resolution of making one thing per week all year.
Either way, this Crazy (Awesome) Silhouette Art project totally fits the bill.
Supplies:
- a piece of wood or plywood or some other smooth surface (I used a square of 1/4 inch masonite about 14x14 inches)
- photo of your subject in profile
- Contact paper
- Scissors or really, really sharp exacto
- spray primer in black (or some other cool color)
- assorted acrylic paints and brushes
- spray on clear coat (if desired)
- string and glue gun (or some sort of hanger)
Process:
- Take a photo of your subjects in action. Aim for a neutral(ish) background and faces in profile. Convert to black and white and crop as desired. Print out on regular typing paper the size you want your silhouette to be (I printed the image below on 8.5x11" paper)
- Spray your wood with primer. This will be the color of your silhouette. You only really need to spray the area where your silhouette will be. see how the wood below has primer on one side? And the photo is printed (ignore the blue stripes--printer issues!)
- Tape your contact paper sticky side up to a self healing mat. Tape your photo on top and cut out image using exacto. (notes: you might want to outline with a pen first to ensure you know where to cut. If your exacto is anything less than razor sharp use double stick tape or a glue stick to adhere the photo to the back of the contact paper and cut out with scissors)
- Peel it all apart and stick your contact paper silhouette to your primered wood. Press down the edges really well.
- Here's the trick I learned about on HGTV at some point....spray paint again over the contact paper mask. This should help keep the edges clean as they'll be sealed down with matching paint!
- Now go to town with the acrylic paints. Choose colors you like and don't worry about it. I recommend employing a child to help--it'll force you to be spontaneous and to not try to do anything too fancy. Or you could just paint it a solid color (if you're booooring....)
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- That red smear looked vaguely heart shaped so I made it a bit more heart shaped. That was about it as far as trying to do anything planned.
- Watch your paint dry. (in our case, force your child to take a bath with the promise of peeling off contact paper when she's done.)
- PEEL! Carefully peel off the contact paper with fingers crossed. Yay! I hope it looks awesome.
- If desired, spray on a coat of polyurethane or acrylic clear coat. If you're hanging your work attach the fastener. For this light masonite a hot glued a piece of ribbon to the back and it seemed to work fine.
- Hang and enjoy!
i love this, melissa!
Posted by: Krista | January 08, 2012 at 08:37 AM
thanks, Krista :)
Posted by: Melissa Haworth | January 08, 2012 at 09:56 AM