DIY! Museum Style Fossil Art

HEY ALL! THIS IS A RE-POST...BECAUSE I HAVE A BOOK TO FINISH ASAP!
But it is one of my favorite projects ever!

I originally came up with this idea last year for my sons room.
I find it very hard to find sophisticated decor for boys,
especially growing boys, and it was time to update his room.

But quite honestly this art can go anywhere!
I even had one friend fooled...
she thought I bought this at a museum store!

 

Supplies

• Cutting Edge Stencils (your choice). I used Ammonite Large Fossil and Tiny Trilobite Fossil
• Krylon Webbing Spray, Black (or white - I used white the first time I tried this project). They also have gold and silver.
• Krylon Brushed Metallic Spray Paint in Sparkling Canyon
• DecoArt Americana Acrylic in Asphaltum and Ebony (ebony is optional) OR DecoArt Black Stencil Paint I happened to have this on hand)
• DecoArt Thickening Medium (not sure I can even tell you how much I LOVE this stuff!)
• Palette knife or old store/credit card
• Optional: DecoArt Staining and Antiquing Medium
• Canvas, size of your choosing. I used a 16x16 canvas and a 6x8 canvas (I also used a 16 x 18 canvas on another piece). It does not have to be a great quality canvas - my canvases were on sale for like $5.00 and $2.00.
• Paper plate for mixing paint

DIY IT!

(repeat this same process for as many canvases as you want to make)

• Cover work area (and work outside during the spray painting process).
• Paint canvas all over with the Krylon webbing. Let dry.

• Paint canvas all over including the sides with the Krylon Brushed Metallic Paint. Let dry. It dries really quickly.
• I sprayed a light coating of the Krylon Webbing Spray all over the canvas - this was for texture. Let dry.

• Repeat the Krylon Brushed Metallic Spray Paint process, covering canvas completely.
• Spray Krylon Webbing Spray in black all over the canvas again, lightly. Let dry.
• Once dry, come back and "hit" the canvas again with the webbing spray in certain areas - you want it to look natural and there is no rhyme or reason - it is supposed to look like a rock. Let dry.

 (top with stain, bottom without)

• Stain/Antique the canvas at this point (OPTIONAL). Mix equal parts Asphaltum Acrylic Paint and Staining and Antiquing Medium together; paint on canvas; wipe off.

• Place the Ammonite stencil on the canvas and position to your liking. For the Ammonite, I choose to place it centered on the canvas. (I taped my stencil down carefully by wrapping ape around the sides of the canvas and securing on the bottom)

• Mix together DecoArt American Acrylic in Asphaltum with a a little Acrylic in Ebony (optional). Then mix equal parts Thickening Medium to the paint mixture. Mix well. The thickening medium is great because it gives some weight and heft to the acrylic paint and makes the design stand out from the background. LOVE it - try it and have fun, you will too...better yet you buy a small bottle (about $2.50) and you can add it to any acrylic paint in equal parts to create this effect.

• Use the palette knife or credit card to apply the paint over the stencil - swipe it in long motions. Be careful not to press too hard on the canvas (it is fabric)....I did and it caused some paint to get under the stencil which actually does not bother me - I actually like it for this project but on others you may not want that.

• Carefully lift stencil off canvas when you have covered your area. Wash stencil with soap and water.
• For the trilobite canvas, I used the same technique as above, but placed a trilobite on each side at different heights and then placed one in the middle, slightly off center (I did not want it "perfect")

OPTION 2

I also did this canvas first, using the white webbing spray and a larger canvas. I sprayed some of the white webbing on the canvas first - prior to spray painting, and then continued to layer spray paint and webbing. I applied the staining/antiquing medium and finished it off with a light spray of Krylon webbing.

Easy-Peasy really cool looking museum style art!