Next, I took the image into Photoshop and made a stencil out of 8 separate pieces of 8 1/2 " x 11" papers, taping them together as seen below. The stencil had a lot of subtle 'noise' on it, because the original smaller file was blown up to match the size of the canvas I was preparing to work on. (Normally not the best scenario, but for my purpose it worked perfectly.) I guess the best way to describe it is that the stencil was a rough approximation of the original, much smaller image. Then I mixed a LOT of blue. The back color coats had to be done in one session because I wouldn't be able to match the blue exactly again if my supply dried out before the canvas was done. (Had to be a flat color, no deviations.) The actual canvas I am working on is 24" x 30" (See below) : Here you can see the composite stencil, before I taped it together, next to the canvas: After this step, I put charcoal all over the backside of the stencil, and traced the message onto the canvas with a pencil: And then finally, I filled in the letters by hand below: The challenge here was to NOT make a SINGLE mistake on any letter, at any time. I had no more blue, and any attempt to match the back color to correct a lettering error would not have been a perfect match, and would be plainly visible to the eye. So, I had to make each letter right, the first time every time. This canvas required that I go over the letters three times, with three coats. So it really didn't let up until it was done. (Whew!)
This effort was made as a present, btw :) As ever, thanks for looking you guys! Andy C.
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AuthorAndrew Carson is a local Bay Area artist with a focus on Science Fiction and Fantasy artwork, as well as landscapes, animal and pet portraits! Archives
April 2023
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