Custom Branch Silhouette Artwork Tutorial

Amanda at Our Humble A Bowed created her own custom branch silhouette artwork in stead of going out and buying one.  I like that idea also.  I have done some of my own artwork and one of my favorites was the mosaic wall art you could see here if you want to check it out.  

After spray painting a new magnet board for Vincent, I started creating a painting for our main bathroom.  I looked in our garage and found a 13 inch by 31 inch scrap of 1/2 inch thick MDF.  I really wanted something that was 12 by 36, but it was close enough.  After a quick cleaning, I applied a coat of primer to all sides. 

This is going in our bathroom, and I don’t want the MDF to swell in the humidity.  Priming and painting all sides will seal the MDF, preventing any swelling.

I was inspired by the shadow of leaves the afternoon sun casts on the walls in our house, so I went out to take a picture of our tree. 

After my primer and white paint dried, I began drawing leaves onto my ‘canvas’, using my photo as a guide.  I lightly drew some of the leaves with pencil.  Some areas where the leaves are more clustered together were difficult to recreate, so I took artistic freedom and drew some leaves as I liked.  After 10 minutes or so, I had half of my template complete.

I mixed up a custom ‘greige’ color using a small amount of black, tons of white and some yellow.  Then I started carefully filling everything in.

It was a little time-consuming, taking about one and a half hours, but I actually doing things like this.  Call me crazy, but I’d rather spend an hour or so creating free art than buying something.  Now we have a custom, one of a kind piece of art in our bathroom.

I like the long, rectangular shape and size.  It definitely makes more of a statement than the smaller items that were there before. 

How many of you make your own art?  Whether it’s a painting, drawing or something else.  Do share!  I would love inspiration!!

Nice custom branch silhouette artwork tutorial, don't you think?