Hello, right am assuming that those reading this blog have either little or no experience with canvas painting so i am going to cover everything right down to the very basics.
Now whilst your learning and adapting your own style i recommend using a 20″x16″ blank canvas, the reason for this is that they are large enough to work on and only cost around 3-4quid each.
The paints that you will be using are going to be acrylic and its best to have a variety of mixed colours that suits your own tastes, a few small artist brushes for detailing and outlining and a larger brush around 1″ wide to quickly cover the open areas.
You will need a laptop or computer with a basic printer and some software, the software required is HUGE PICTURE SLICER which allows you to paint any size canvas with ease (i will explain more on this further down) and PHOTOSHOP STUDIO which allows you to edit any pictures and alter colours to help you see what your canvas will look like when its completed. (this tool is very useful if you plan on setting up a small business as this allows you to email the picture of what your work will look like before you even start the painting)
Now lets get started, let assume you bought a 20″x16″ canvas for your first trial so we startup the software on the computer and the first thing we are going to do is find a picture you want to paint (if you search images in Google you can find a great choice of every topic from peppa pig and hello kitty to Eminem and jls) save the chosen image to your computer. When you open Photoshop click on FILE then OPEN select the image you want to work on. When your ready and have your image ready select IMAGE then ADJUSTMENTS and finally THRESHOLD your image will now be black and white.You can also modify any colour changes within the program like black/blue red/ yellow etc etc its completely upto you for example if a customer wanted it made to match her colored walls you can accommodate.
Now that you know what your finished image will look like print a copy off so that you can keep it close to hand for reference whilst painting and save this image into a folder for easy access but be sure not to replace the original as you want to be able to see the before and after effects of your work also great for demos. Now quickly select layers then stylize click find edges. (this just helps save you ink cartridges). load your altered image into huge picture slicer you can do this just by clicking on file and click on load picture, you will see a box on the right-hand side this is where you enter your canvas size, weather it going to be a portrait or landscape painting click preview when your happy with it and the software slices the image up into A4 pieces ready for you to place them in place on your canvas with the image facing up all you need to do is put carbon copy paper under under each bit of paper individually and with a pencil draw around the edges, do this for the whole image making sure everything lines up.
Once you have your image drawn onto the canvas make sure there are no areas you have missed and you are ready to start painting
Right now what you want to do is look out your chosen acrylic paints and get your brush ready. It is at this stage you want to have a picture of what your finished canvas will look like (you should of printed this off in Photoshop) as this makes good reference whilst painting to check where your areas stop and start with different colors. After your first coat of paint you will be able to see what your first canvas is going to look like after all your efforts, wait for the paint to dry then apply your second coat of paint taking extra care this time as this is your finishing coat.
Anyway it would be good to see other peoples paintings so if anyone can upload any picture that would be great.
Regards.
Now whilst your learning and adapting your own style i recommend using a 20″x16″ blank canvas, the reason for this is that they are large enough to work on and only cost around 3-4quid each.
The paints that you will be using are going to be acrylic and its best to have a variety of mixed colours that suits your own tastes, a few small artist brushes for detailing and outlining and a larger brush around 1″ wide to quickly cover the open areas.
You will need a laptop or computer with a basic printer and some software, the software required is HUGE PICTURE SLICER which allows you to paint any size canvas with ease (i will explain more on this further down) and PHOTOSHOP STUDIO which allows you to edit any pictures and alter colours to help you see what your canvas will look like when its completed. (this tool is very useful if you plan on setting up a small business as this allows you to email the picture of what your work will look like before you even start the painting)
Now lets get started, let assume you bought a 20″x16″ canvas for your first trial so we startup the software on the computer and the first thing we are going to do is find a picture you want to paint (if you search images in Google you can find a great choice of every topic from peppa pig and hello kitty to Eminem and jls) save the chosen image to your computer. When you open Photoshop click on FILE then OPEN select the image you want to work on. When your ready and have your image ready select IMAGE then ADJUSTMENTS and finally THRESHOLD your image will now be black and white.You can also modify any colour changes within the program like black/blue red/ yellow etc etc its completely upto you for example if a customer wanted it made to match her colored walls you can accommodate.
Now that you know what your finished image will look like print a copy off so that you can keep it close to hand for reference whilst painting and save this image into a folder for easy access but be sure not to replace the original as you want to be able to see the before and after effects of your work also great for demos. Now quickly select layers then stylize click find edges. (this just helps save you ink cartridges). load your altered image into huge picture slicer you can do this just by clicking on file and click on load picture, you will see a box on the right-hand side this is where you enter your canvas size, weather it going to be a portrait or landscape painting click preview when your happy with it and the software slices the image up into A4 pieces ready for you to place them in place on your canvas with the image facing up all you need to do is put carbon copy paper under under each bit of paper individually and with a pencil draw around the edges, do this for the whole image making sure everything lines up.
Once you have your image drawn onto the canvas make sure there are no areas you have missed and you are ready to start painting
Right now what you want to do is look out your chosen acrylic paints and get your brush ready. It is at this stage you want to have a picture of what your finished canvas will look like (you should of printed this off in Photoshop) as this makes good reference whilst painting to check where your areas stop and start with different colors. After your first coat of paint you will be able to see what your first canvas is going to look like after all your efforts, wait for the paint to dry then apply your second coat of paint taking extra care this time as this is your finishing coat.
Anyway it would be good to see other peoples paintings so if anyone can upload any picture that would be great.
Regards.
