Hey Easter Peeps!
What an egg-citing day!
I
am happy to report the rain finally stopped today in Sydney and it was
damn hot, and bright. So bright I had to wear shades even. 😎 It's so
weird to see the sun again. But I'm not complaining. The flood damage
will take a long time to clean up and rivers are still rising and there
is so much loss and damage and my heart truly goes out to each and every
person effected by the devastation. I hope seeing the sunshine gives
you a sprinkle of hope that things will get better soon.
Meanwhile, I'm so egg-cited, and I just can't hide it. 🎵
Cause I spent my day creating a new Easter sign for the dining room.
For
this project, I grabbed my Cafe De Paris sign. This sign has been a
constant in our dining room for years. I made it myself and at the time I
didn't realise it would be a sign I could use and reuse over and over
again. You see, the frame doubles as an insert. All I need is a sheet of
MDF cut to size to fit within the frame and I can switch up my artwork
to almost anything I want depending on the season and/or occasion. In
fact, I've made many an Easter and Christmas sign for this frame.
Today,
I cut myself another piece of MDF for another new sign. Then I grabbed a
roller and some white paint and gave the MDF a rough roll. I like the
rustic look so doing an imperfectly painted background works a treat.
Next
I thought about what sort of sign I wanted to do for Easter. I remember
seeing some awesome deer head paintings at Christmas and knew this was
the look I wanted to go for. So I searched Google for bunny
inspiration. After finding some pictures I liked, I drafted up a design
in Photoshop. Then I saved it as a JPEG. Next I went to
Block Posters
to enlarge my picture. I love this website!! You can upload any JPEG
picture and then blow it up to poster size. And its free! The website
creates a downloadable image that you simply print off on A4 sheets of
paper and stick together to create a large picture/template. I've used
this technique for a lot of my large signs and it hasn't let me down
yet.
After
taping my picture together, I stuck it to my MDF board with some tape
and hung it on the wall. This is a great way to see how your art will
look before you actually draw it on your MDF. I left it up for a few
hours, asked the fam what they thought, then did the opposite. 😂
This
was actually a second attempt. The first draft I had a smaller bunny
head and the words Happy Easter. But it didn't feel right. Bunny needed
to be bigger. Cause bigger is better. 😉
When
I was happy with the size and layout, I took down the image, flipped it
over and shaded the back of the picture with a lead pencil. And
although this looks like a long process, it really isn't. The shading
doesn't have to be perfect. Just enough so that it will result in a
decent impression on your MDF.
Then
I flipped the paper back over and taped it back onto my MDF board. You
only need a small piece of tape on each side to keep it in place. Then
with the lead pencil I traced over the image adding moderate pressure so
the lead on the back of the paper would give a good imprint on the MDF.
Like this...
I
checked the face to ensure it was symmetrical and in proportion which
did entail rubbing out and redrawing a few of the details. It also helps
to use a ruler to ensure the features are level and the same size. And
once I was happy with my pencil draft, I grabbed a medium size black
marker and began tracing out my bunny.
Once
I had the basic shape, I began filling in the details. This took a few
attempts, holding it up and taking a better look at a distance to pick
up any details that weren't quite right. My biggest worry was ensuring
the bunny didn't look angry which involved a bit of tweaking his eyes.
(My family assures me he doesn't look angry, but that right eye is
borderline for me. Sorry, when you see it it's hard to unsee it.)
Lastly,
I used some bright white paint to dry brush inside my bunny to make him
stand out a bit more against the background. And I think I've finally
found "some bunny to love"! 😍
Or maybe I'm just having a good hare day. 🐇
Okay, enough of the puns. But some bunny had to say them. 😂
Seriously
though, I'm pretty happy with how my bunny wall art turned out. And I
can't wait to put together my Easter table setting!
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