Butterfly Mixed Media Canvas

Posted by DecoArt on Jun 23rd 2015

The bright colors of DecoArt Media® Fluid Acrylics bring life to a mixed media canvas.

Mix a couple drops of each of the following colors with a little dab of Matte Medium: Dioxazine Purple, Cobalt Blue Hue, Cobalt Teal Hue, and Phthalo Turquoise. Brush streaks of these colors onto the canvas as desired. Add darker shadows with Dioxazine Purple and Phthalo Blue straight from the bottle.

Use Carbon Black to paint the sides of the canvas. Add shadows around the piece by dry-brushing Carbon Black around the edges of the canvas. (This does not have to be perfectly even all the way around.)

Use the Americana Brocade & Berry Borders Stencil with a palette knife and Black Modeling Paste to add two filigree shapes onto the left side of the canvas. While Modeling Paste is still wet, carefully lift and wash off the stencil.

With a clean Brocade & Berry Borders Stencil and a palette knife, use White Modeling Paste to add the berry borders in the corner. Remove the stencil while the Modeling Paste is still wet. Allow the Modeling Paste to dry completely before continuing.

Mix a single drop of Carbon Black with a little dab of Matte Medium. Brush the paint onto a piece of bubble wrap, then press the bubble wrap paint side down onto the canvas. Repeat the bubble dots on the canvas as desired.

Use Green Gold and Phthalo Green-Blue to paint in the leaves. Load a #3 round brush with Green Gold and then dip the tip of the brush in Phthalo Green-Blue. (This allows the colors to mix and blend while they are being painted.) Dab a generous amount of Purple Princess onto the berries.

Use a 3/4" flat brush to apply Titanium White streaks onto the canvas to add contrast and interest to the background.

Optional: Add dots of Liquid Glass onto the canvas. Allow the canvas to dry completely.

Paint Metallic Silver on the top of the brocade border stenciled with Black Modeling Paste.

For the flower, cut off the flap and lid of a paper egg carton. Cut apart the egg cups: two cups and one pyramid piece will make one flower.

Trim off the higher sides of the cups to make them close to an even height. Cut down from the top of the cup in all four corners. Use scissors to cut around the top of each side of the cut to make it look more like a petal.

Mix a small amount of Quinacridone Violet with White Tinting Base. Use the #6 flat brush to paint the inside and outside of the flower layers. (No need to paint the bottoms.) Mix a small amount of Quinacridone Violet with Matte Medium. Dab the mix onto each petal starting at the base and working not quite all the way to the top to create a fading look. Repeat to paint both the inside and outside of each petal.

Use a hot glue gun to glue together the flower layers. Add a button to the center of each flower. Use hot glue to glue the flowers onto the bottom right hand corner of the canvas.

Use a Silhouette machine or craft knife and a butterfly template of your choice to cut out six butterflies from white glitter scrapbook paper. Fold the wings of the butterflies together to make them look as if they are lifting off the canvas.
Mix Quinacridone Violet with Matte Medium and use mix to paint the centers of the butterflies fading toward the tips of the wings. (Save extra mix for the next step.) Paint the outside area of wings in Cobalt Blue Hue wash. (Save extra wash for the next step.) Arrange the butterflies as desired on the canvas and use hot glue to hold them in place.

Thin down Titanium White with a little bit of water and use to paint a wooden tag. Use Cobalt Teal Hue wash and Quinacridone Violet/Matte Medium mix from previous step to add streaks of onto the tag. Cut a 24" piece of metallic gold twine and wrap it around the tag several times. Tie the ends into a bow. Use a permanent marker or pen to write a quote of your choice on the tag. Hot glue the tag and buttons onto the canvas.

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