Evolution of a Canvas
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I finally finished one of my canvas pieces. Firstly, I took my own advice and stopped working on so many at once! It was hard to focus! I had a lot of trials and frustrations along the way and I’m not sure if I like the finished product but at least it’s finished!
I took a few photos along the way - though I did omit a few of the uglier iterations. Here is the evolution…
I went through some dramas to get the background the way I wanted it. I really liked this (above) but I knew it needed more. This is where the trouble bagan. So I added a tree element:
After adding the tree collage piece (above) I then messed with the background colours and mucked things up a bit but I kept going. I added paper elements as well…
After a bit more playing and frustration it looked like this (above) and I liked the golden background and texture but I had ruined the lovely bird in the process. So I collaged the woman element and some other papers over the bird instead. After drawing in some more of the tree and adding the fountain, I really felt like this was coming together. Which is why I was so annoyed when I tried to outline the woman with crayon to make her stand her from the similar coloured background a little more… and I ended up wrecking her! So, more glue and another element was added to cover that up:
After a bit more work and annoyance, it evolved into the above and the theme bacame “house and home”. Sorry about the glary photo.
Anyway I learnt a lot during this frustrating process. Firstly, you really must be patient and wait for paint to dry before doing another wash or colour or it will soon turn to mud. Muddy colours are very annoying. Unless you are going for that look of course.
Another thing to realise is that no matter what happens you can just keep adding layers and if it really sucks, then you could always gesso over the whole thing and start again. I was very tempted to do this a few times but I decided to persevere, if only to learn something from the experience. 
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evolution of a canvas on Flickr - Photo Sharing! Said,
Wednesday, June 21, 2006 @ 3:48 am
[...] evolution of a canvas To take full advantage of Flickr, you should use a JavaScript-enabled browser andinstall the latest version of the Macromedia Flash Player. _decorate(_ge(’photo_notes’), _ge(’photoImgDiv171113988′), 171113988, ‘http://static.flickr.com/52/171113988_ea820b4a02_t.jpg’, ‘1.5′); see the evolution here: http://www.jenleheny.com/archives/210 [...]
linda woods Said,
Friday, July 7, 2006 @ 1:22 pm
I think your canvas turned out great! I really like the color combination and the balance of the tall plant, house and fountain.
Nicole Said,
Friday, February 2, 2007 @ 3:11 am
Beautiful!! I was wondering, what type of paints did you use for that? Any special techniques? I’ve been wanting to try collage art myself, and I can use all the advice I can get! Thanks!
Jen Leheny Said,
Monday, February 5, 2007 @ 10:18 pm
hi Nicole
I used acrylic paints. The cheap ones work just fine for this kind of thing. I am no expert in this - just a beginner myself really though I have read a lot online and in library books about it.
I just tend to layer and layer and paint and stick until it starts to look right. Just start and see where it takes you. I always remember it’s only a cheap canvas and you can just paint over it if it doesn’t look any good and start again.
One thing that I had trouble with is the mixing or “muddying” of colours. This happens when you add colour over colour and maybe it wasn’t dry properly and the colours intermix and become a browny shade.
You can use a hair dryer (or better still a heat gun) to speed up the process. I found it was good to do a bit, put it aside and do something else while it dried and then do a bit more, etc. Good luck with it!
thanks
Jen
Nicole Said,
Saturday, February 17, 2007 @ 6:32 pm
Yeah, I’ve also been looking at library books and trying to find every resouce I can online. Thanks so much for the advice, this helps a lot!!