DIY Network

Create Original Pooch Masterpieces

Cathie Filian and Steve Piacenza, cohosts of Creative Juice, tell how to capture your favorite furry friend on canvas.

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Capture your four-legged friend's image with bold color and modern style.

How to create a portrait of your dog

By Cathie Filian and Steve Piacenza

May 7, 2007 — Capture your four-legged friend's image with bold color and modern style. Anybody can be an artist with this easy technique for bringing bright poppy color to a photo a la Andy Warhol.

The results from this project, though easy to achieve, are stunning. All you need to create this one-of-a-kind pooch masterpiece is a photo of your dog, a few canvases and the paint colors of your choice. By using bright colors you can really pay tribute to Warhol. Or this project can easily be adapted to a "vintage look" by using sepia tones and pastel colors.

The instructions are for creating a series of four, but, of course, you could just make one. Have fun, get creative and picture you pooch!

Materials:

four 12 x 12 stretched, gessoed artist canvases
craft paint in four colors (either bright or muted)
foam paintbrushes
decoupage medium
four 14 x 17"color copies of a black-and-white image
10 yds. decorative trim (narrower than the edge of the canvas)
matte medium
photo-hanger piece
small photo-hanging nails
hot glue
scissors
ruler
wax paper

Steps:

1. Choose an image and use photo-editing software to make the picture black and white, adjusting the brightness and contrast until the image is completely black and white with no gray.

2. Print the image and then take it to a copy shop and enlarge it to fit the length and width of the canvas. (Ours was enlarged 140 percent to fit a 12 x 12 canvas.). Make four copies.

3. Cut the images to the exact dimensions of the canvases.

4. Apply a liberal, even coat of decoupage medium to the canvas. Apply decoupage to the back (not the front) of the image, and carefully apply the image to the canvas (don't start pressing until the image is properly aligned).

5. Smooth out any the air bubbles. You can use a flat-edged object to help flatten bubbles, but be careful not to gouge the paper with the edges. Let dry.

6. Paint the image using acrylic paint that has been mixed with matte medium (one part paint to slightly less than one part matte medium). Allow to dry. Use more than one coat of paint if the first coat looks streaky.

7. Once the paint is dry, add embellishments to the artwork. Ribbon or trim can be used to enhance the border of the frame. Attach a picture hanger to the back of the canvas. Repeat for each canvas.

(Cathie Filian and Steve Piacenza cohost Creative Juice. For more information log on to www.cathiefilian.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)

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