Easy DIY Art: Stencil Masking

I recently showed you one of my new favourite ways to make quick and easy art using book pages and your printer, but today I have something totally different. This time it requires a little more time and some painting supplies, but the end result is a fabulous (and pretty much free!) piece of art for your home.

First, you’ll need a canvas. They usually sell cheap ones at your dollar store. Canvas boards are usually cheaper than wood mounted canvases (and frameable!) so keep that in mind as well. I used a canvas board for this project.

You’ll also need some acrylic paints (again, usually available at your dollar store!) and a paint brush.

Start by painting your canvas however you want. I did a sort of random ombre effect my mixing red, yellow, and white. Cover your entire canvas and be sure to get the edges too! (Pro tip: it helps to lightly sand your canvas prior to painting!)

Next you’ll need a cut out of something. I chose letters, but you could do silhouette images, real leaves or flat flowers… really you could do anything you want! How about an initial, or a date? I used my Cricut to cut out these letters (you could just as easily print off something and cut it out!) and a spray adhesive to stick them temporarily to the canvas.

Once your have your image or lettering in place, grab a solid colour and paint over the entire area. I actually wanted to do this part with spray paint but didn’t have any laying around. I would recommend using that for a speedier finished product!

When the paint is dry, peel off your image/letters and all will be revealed 😉

Fun, right!? Get creative and let me know what you would use or write on your canvas!

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By Dana Fox

Founder of the Wonder Forest blog and brand and bestselling author of the Watercolor With Me book series.

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