18. DIY Photo Canvas Prints

I'm really excited about this project. Over Easter my good friend Jo over at beaux design told me about a new painting technique she'd heard about using gel medium. I've been thinking about it over the last month or so and this is what I came up with this weekend.

Everyone I know (including me!) loves canvas prints of their favourite photographs. But they're very expensive. I had a look at some photo ordering sites online today and they ranged from $50 to well over $300. I can see the value for a wedding photo perhaps, but as an everyday craft project it's way too costly.

I started to have a play with photos and did my research on gel medium - and I think you'll like the exciting discovery I made.  Let's have a look.

Cost: $5 or under depending on canvas size
Time: 15 minutes to apply plus drying and time to remove paper

Materials:

1 canvas from a discount store or art supply shop. Mine was 20cm x 20cm and was $2.50
Matte gel medium from an art shop. Mine is Matisse and was $13.95, another brand is Liquitex. One pot will do for many projects.
1 inkjet printed or photocopied (toner only) image in colour or black and white
Paintbrush

Here we go...

For my first attempt I wanted to use a photo of my daughter and I. I uploaded the photo onto the site Photobucket then edited it. All I needed to do was crop the picture into a square shape then choose the "Pop Art" option under Effects. This is what I ended up with. There are lots and lots of different options to choose from so there's room to try out a few different looks to see what you like.

Next I downloaded the image to my computer and pasted it into a Word document. I resized it so that it was just bigger than my canvas and printed it out on the best quality setting. An important note is that your image will be reversed because you're placing it onto your canvas face down. This is particularly important with text. You can flip your image in photo editing software (like Photobucket) or most printers have the option of printing in reverse. For a larger canvas get your image enlarged at a photocopy store but make sure it's a toner print rather than laser.

Time to open up the gel medium! Using a sponge or a brush apply a thick, even, coating to the entire surface of the canvas. No blobs allowed. Every part must have gel medium applied or the print won't adhere.

Place your image face down into the canvas, being careful to position it where you want it.

Using a roller, credit card, or plastic ruler, smooth out any wrinkles and bubbles. It's really important to get the paper as smooth as possible at this stage, but be gentle because you don't want to rip the paper.

Once you're satisfied, leave it to dry for at least 10 hours. For my second one I cheated and dried it in the sun for 2 hours then popped it in front of the heater and it still worked.

If you see a section where the print hasn't come through enough you can apply some more gel medium onto the back of the paper and it will seep through and react with the ink.

When the paper is completely dry, spray some water onto a small section and gently rub the paper away. Work in small areas at a time until all remnants of paper are gone and your print is nice and clean.  This is time consuming.. I'm the first to admit it. But it's something you can do in front of the TV or do a little bit then come back to it later. I used my finger mostly but a clean cloth also worked really well.

That's it! A home made canvas print for as little as $5.

As you can see in my finished canvas above there are a few white bits here and there. I'm still experimenting with the right type of paper and the amount of medium to spread on the canvas so I'm hoping to tweak it a little in the next few days. I kind of like the distressed look though so I'm not too worried, and for around $5 for a 20cm x 20cm canvas I'm happy with the results.

Hindsight
Here are my tips for making this project work really well for you:

1. Use a good quality, strong, preferably coated printing paper. And remember this works with inkjet (not laser) printers.
2. Give the canvas a good, thick, coating of medium. Below is a pic of my first attempt where we hadn't used enough product and the image didn't bond well.
3. When you're peeling off the paper, dry it periodically so you can see where small bits of white paper remain.
4. For a longer lasting and tougher canvas finish it in clear varnish or enamel.

If you're a fan of Andy Warhol inspired artwork check out this great easy tutorial using photocopied images and food colouring from artist Jo Stanes over at  beaux design pop art project.

Happy Crafting!!