Transforming a Garage Sale Canvas with Ombre Painting Technique
We are really excited about this tutorial! Rick Cheadle of Cheadle Designs is transforming a garage sale canvas with ombre painting technique and is showing us how it’s done.
It’s always a good time when Rick shows us how to make over items he finds at garage sales or second hand stores. He has taught us how to transform furniture in creative ways. And now he is teaching us about transforming a garage sale canvas with ombre painting technique. Once again we will turn the blog over to him! In the video and paragraphs below, Rick gives us everything we need to know about ombre painting and how to use Pop of Color Shock Paint to take a bland secondhand canvas and turn it into something amazing!
Transforming a Garage Sale Canvas with Ombre Painting Technique
I was at a garage sale recently and I found a 30 x 30 framed art canvas in good condition. The only thing I didn’t like about it was the painting that was on it.
It was very classic with an ornate chandelier. The chandelier was covered in strands of crystals and dangling light catching glass prisms.
Now in itself, this type of art is not bad. After all, art in any form is creative and amazing.
In the right home this piece of art would hold a beauty all its own.
But beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder. And in this case since I was the beholder, what I saw was a blank canvas that I could reinvent.
Reinventing, repurposing and reusing are terms that can apply to many things. I do a lot of this with furniture. You can literally do this with so many things. Any surface that can be painted can be given a new look, essentially a new life.
My art style is a bit more abstract with definite flashes of color throughout. When I saw this piece of art, my creative juices started to flow.
I saw enormous opportunity for improvement and change. And I could see color and depth. I imagined using my Pop of Color paints and do a technique referred to as Ombre. So as you can imagine, I purchased it for a grand total of $5 and headed to my studio to start the transformation. You may have heard of this technique before. Anytime you hear the word Ombre, it refers to color. Ombre is a French word that means shaded.
This technique allows the painter to take one color and blend it into another creating different hues that gradually shift from light to dark or from one tone to another. This technique is used with color or paint so you may see it on many surfaces. Even hair and nail salons have started offering Ombre because its so trendy with its unique color tones causing gradual color changes.
Transforming a Garage Sale Canvas with Ombre Painting Technique
Materials
- Navy Blue Shock Paint
- Pure White Pop of Color Shock Paint
- Ocean Deep Shock Paint
- Black Shock Paint
- Black Prime Time
- Alabaster White Rick's Mix
- Paint brush
- Stencils
- Liquitex Gloss Varnish in Vernis Brillant
- Refillable paint marker
Instructions
- First I added a base coat to the canvas and the frame. I added this to the top 1/3 of the canvas only using horizontal strokes which starts the process of the Ombre look. I chose Navy Blue.
- When I'm painting this base coat, I make sure to cover the entire canvas and frame thoroughly. I take extra time to get all the edges of the canvas where it meets the frame and the outside edges of the frame.
- Now time for the bottom 1/3 of the canvas. For this I chose Pure White. I paint the bottom in the same horizonal fashion.
- Now in the middle. I am using a tone that is in the middle of these two tones. For this step I have picked Ocean Deep. My canvas now looks like it has 3 distinct colors.
- Blending. Since we want this to be a gradual change we need to blend the areas together where the colors meet. I do this by moving from one side to the other and softening the hard line by transferring paint across the line onto the other side. I make a special effort to blend the colors together so the line is no longer visible. Again I use the same horizonal stroke so it creates a gradual color change.
- Now its time to add some definition. After allowing this to dry thoroughly, I drew 4 circles on the canvas. I used mat cutouts as templates. I then used my Black to paint around the circles. Then I spritzed them with Metallic spray paint.
- Now you're ready to add the details. I explain how do do that in detail through the rest of this post.
Add in the Details
- Next I applied stencils with Black Prime Time or Flat Black Spray Primer. This gave my circles the look of multi-colored flowers. At this point you can already see the painting taking shape.
- I am going to use a paint marker now. I fill it with Rick’s Mix in Alabaster White. For more information on Rick’s Mix Click here to view the colors available. Next I took my paint marker and made the stems and the leaves to my flowers. This part allows you to free hand your drawing and get creative.
- Now I chose a purple color to fill in the spaces of the flower to give it a 3 dimensional feel. I am adding green to the stems over the white allowing some of the white underneath to slightly show through. Then a bit of yellow and pink for more color. For a visual explanation of this you can watch this tutorial on You Tube by clicking Here. I take my time and go back over the green with white, then green again. In this step blending is key.
- Next I use Liquitex Gloss Varnish in Vernis Brillant. I apply 2 coats and allow it to dry thoroughly. This gives a bright gloss and makes all the colors pop.
Below is an image of the finished product. I am so pleased with how it turned out. When you look at the before and after, its hard to believe its the same canvas.
You are only limited by your imagination here. The sky is the limit on what you can create. If you try this technique send me a picture of your final product.
I would love to see how your project turns out. You can email me at infoteam@rickcheadle.com
Art/Business/Self Improvement/Life Rickcheadle.com
The Finishing Touches
Thanks again to Rick for sharing his time and talent with us! We learned a lot from this tutorial. It was fun to learn how to incorporate ombre painting, stencils, and free hand painting all in one project. If you love learning from Rick as much as we do you can find him on all the socials (links below). Be sure to subscribe to his YouTube channel so you can see all of his tutorials!
Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsmYknOXe6JMBK_WovyyIbw
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/CheadleDesigns/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/rickcheadle/
Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/cheadledesigns/_created/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/RickCheadle
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