A Photo Art Project

What Do You Guys DO With Your Photo Art?

If you're a member of my mailing list, you know all about my art gallery booth I've set up this year at Carriage House Antique Mall in Jackson, TN.  I have my original pastel big sky paintings there, as well as some original pastel bird and animal paintings.  I also have several prints of my photo art I create with the Daily Textures in my booth!  The left wall in the photo features my original paintings and prints of them, and the right wall features my photo art.  For the photo art, I sell matted prints, framed prints, canvas prints and other fun things I love to make.  I'm always creating exciting new things with my photo art!  And because Jackson, TN is really NOT the place to sell original art {people here just don't appreciate it}, I'm creating a lot more prints and other goodies which can be offered for lower prices.  Today I thought I'd share one of my art projects with you!

This is what I'm creating in today's photo art project.  I made this image a few years ago with one of my elk photos paired with this background and snow from the Winter 1 Collection.  I decided to print a square crop from the art onto canvas and mount it on a primed artist panel.  I purchased some inkjet canvas paper from Walmart online.  I bought several brands to try out and they've all been wonderful and were very inexpensive.  I figured out they cost me approximately $1.25 per sheet, and I can print two 5"x5" images on one 8 1/2"x11" sheet.  The most expensive part of this project was the primed cradled art panel which I purchased from Blick here.  I like the white ones but they also offer unprimed wood panels as well.  Most craft stores also carry cradled wood panels, too.  After printing and cutting the image, I use Yes Paste to attach the image to the panel.  Any glue will work, but I like this particular glue the best.  

Step By Step

The first step is to prepare the art for printing.  I created an exact 5"x5" image and copied and pasted it twice onto an image to fit an 8 1/2x11" size sheet.  Then I printed the double image sheet onto the canvas paper using my inkjet printer.

After printing, it's time to cut the image.  You can use scissors, but I prefer to use my paper cutter since I cannot cut a straight line!  

I actually slice about 1/8" farther into the edges of image. This will give me a slight white border around my image when attaching it to the board.  I want to mention you can always PAINT your boards before mounting, if you prefer a color other than white.  For this image, I prefer to keep the white so I didn't paint the board.

When using a paper slicer with canvas paper, I have learned to come down HARD with the slicer in one swoop.  If you baby it, you will possibly get frayed canvas edges, which can be trimmed up with the scissors if needed.  Notice how I've trimmed the image above and how it has a border from the white of the board.

Now it's time to get the Yes paste ready -- I use the paste, a paper plate, an old kitchen knife {or palette knife} and a cheap 1" flat brush.  

I got a glob of the paste out with the knife and put it on the plate.  As you can see, it's VERY thick.  A little too thick for this project, but the beauty is, you can thin this paste with water.  I get water on the brush and drip it in the middle and smoosh it around until I get a thinner consistency.  

^^^ Like this ^^^

Using the brush, I spread the paste onto the back of the canvas.  Using the brush keeps me from over-applying the glue -- I don't want it seeping out the edges when I press it down if I can avoid it.  Once covered with the glue, I flip the canvas print over and position it on the board.  You do have a short working time to scoot it around and get it properly centered.

Using a piece of wax paper, I place it over the image and rub it down good to make sure it adheres well after I've properly positioned the art. 

This is the finished look.  These cradled boards can stand up on a shelf, or hang on the wall since they are open in the back.  Super easy!  Note:  While these finish drying {which doesn't take long at all since it's a thin glue application}, I thoroughly wash my knife and brush I used with the glue.  Water cleans it up just fine!

A few minutes later, it's time to finalize my work.  Using my favorite gold pen, I write the name of the art and sign my name on the back, and my custom stamp I had made gets stamped right in the center.  These quick little canvas art pieces are now ready to sell!  With the cost of my cradled boards, canvas paper, ink for printing and Yes paste, my cost is under $10 to make these.  I can then price and add these little gems to my booth!

The buyer can display the mounted canvas print as is right away, or they can use any frame which will hold a deep canvas print or board, and frame these up the way they wish. 

I hope you have enjoyed this photo art project and will give it a try yourself!  Even if you don't sell your art, this is a fun way to create gifts for others and a great way to display your creations in your own home, too!

​--Jai