Summer Afternoon

Reading an interesting book laying on the grass under a big tree with a warm breeze blowing on a summer afternoon…aah! One of everyone’s favorite things, I am sure. That feeling was what I was trying to capture in this project which was specifically made for my daughter’s room. My daughter absolutely loves reading, is a voracious reader, and is currently pursuing her dreams of becoming a published author. This canvas is perfect in her room full of books.

I love doing mixed media art projects. It allows more versatility and the visual peeling of the layers offers a rich experience to the viewer. It invites a person to come closer and touch with the thought “how did you make it?” ‘Summer Afternoon’ is a very basic mixed media art in which I have used a few different traditional mediums to express an emotion.
Here's how to:
Who doesn’t know the wonders of mod podge! Mod Podge is an all-in-one glue, selaer, and finish miracle product. It is a decoupage medium available in a variety of finishes and can be used for bonding paper, wood, fabric, and other porous materials. 

Begin with a blank canvas, 3-4 pages of old books, mod podge, brushes, and writing pens. Instead of pages from books you can use magazine pages, comic strips from the newspaper, newspaper articles, black and white or sepia tone photographs, poetry pages, or any other sort of reading material. I had purchased these two books at the flea market (rest assured they are not originals).

Using any kind of wide bristled or foam brush spread mod podge generously on the canvas. Place the selected pages of media on the mod podge. I chose complete pages but you can tear strips or random shapes or use scissors for clean edges. In my excitement I put down all the pages at the same time. I would suggest you lay the pages down one at a time slowly smoothing out the bumps and wrinkles. I tried to peel the pages and smooth out the bumps, mod podge is a miracle product so I wasn’t too worried at this point. Make sure the pages go over the edges and sides of the canvas, it just gives it a complete finish.

Once the first layer is fairly dry, brush on more mod podge on top of the pages. Let dry completely. I know the bumps and wrinkling looks messed up but trust me...dont worry. Though I must say I was just very slightly worried that I might have ruined it. I applied pressure while brushing on the mod podge hoping to smooth them out. 

I was happy to note that the more my canvas dried out, the bumps and wrinkles seemed to disappear. Phew!

Now my canvas is ready for the next layer of my mixed media art. Using a pen (pencil doesn’t work on mod podge) I drew the outline of the girl reading. I looked up some images on the internet for ideas. 

Using black acrylic craft paint and a very fine brush I filled in the silhouette of the girl reading. Since mod podge is also a sealant, it is surprising that anything sticks to it. But as I said mod podge is a miracle product.  

I directly freehand painted the tree, its branches and leaves, and filled in its silhouette. I wanted the two title pages to be as visible as possible and so I tried to work my paintings around the words as much as I could. As a final detail I painted small free falling leaves.

Once the black paint is completely dry brush on mod podge all over including the sides and edges. Once this layer is dry brush on another final layer of modpodge. I used a satin finish mod podge for this project.