Turn the image on the left, into the painting on the right!

I’ve been burned one too many times searching the Web, combing through stores and generally just driving myself crazy trying to find a perfect wall painting.  This time around, looking to fill up some major blank wall space in our new master bedroom, I took matters into my own hands and went all Faux-casso on a canvas.

The novio and I decided that our new color scheme in the room would be blues and browns.  I really wanted a painting that was a simple blue background with a brown image front and center. As usual, endless searching led to nothing I wanted (and nothing under a gabillion dollars.)  So I took matters into my own hands!  Going down an internet rabbit hole for “simple patterns” led me to a Web site about the art of Diwali Rangoli patterns, which are rich in meaning and history, but also fairly simple in their construction.  This one especially struck me and I was off to the races.  Oh – and this whole painting can be made for just $11.50!

Here’s what you’ll need:

1. A thin sheet of paper (notebook, computer, whatever)
2. A pencil
3. A canvas

And here are the steps!

1. Paint your canvas the background color you want and let dry completely. (I used a basic craft paint and it dried in less than an hour for two coats.)
2. On your computer screen, blow up the image you want to trace to the size you want.
3. Place your piece of paper over the screen and trace the image carefully.
4. Now, bring out your inner elementary school student. Flip the paper over and solidly color, using pencil, a block over the image.  Make it as thick as possible!
5. Once finished, place the paper on the canvas and line up where you want your image to be.
6. Trace over the image again – the lead from the back of the paper will show up as a faint guideline on the canvas!
7. Paint over the image in your second color.
8. Tidy up the lines as necessary.

And voila! A beautiful “masterpiece” for any space in the house!