Hey Everyone,
What's up hobbies and nobbies community?! Welcome (back) to emanate artworx! How is life treating you? 🙂 This is my first time posting in this community, so here goes...
Today I want to share how I made a couple of gifts for my friend's kids. She and I went to school together more than 20 years ago, and her 2 kids are now a little younger than we were when she and I first met. They're a couple of characters, but also very sweet.
For my birthday this year the kids gave me some really awesome Naruto stickers and a hand drawn note. I was so touched by their gesture, I had to do something for them in turn.
Some background: Their mom and I took art class together many years ago in school, and these days we meet up to paint and hang out with each other a few times a year.
So I decided to paint a small wooden panel or plaque (?) featuring the initial of their first name, one for each of them. It seemed like something they can use to hang on their bedroom door or on their wall, just a little personalized decoration to show them I appreciate their thoughtful gifts.
Her kids both love building with Lego and both have a lot of imagination. They like to draw and paint, too. Their favorite colors are blue and green, so that worked as a starting point, along with their initials, of course.
I selected the pieces of wood that served as the canvas for this project. Then I used a piece of 800 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dry kitchen sponge to very, very lightly sand the surface so the paint would go on smoothly.
I sketched the letters on paper with pencil, then used carbon paper to transfer the sketch to the wood panels. Next was the wood burning step, which, tbh, was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be.
Since I wasn't 100% sure which brush I wanted to used at first, I decided to do a test on a piece of similar scrap wood. This way I could avoid mistakes caused by uncertainty or unfamiliarity with the paint acting on the wood, as this is the first time I've painted something like this. Typically if I'm using watercolor, it's on canvas or paper.
For the next step I painted the background colors on the wood pieces, keeping in mind each kid's favorite colors. Then I moved on to coloring in the letters. It was pretty challenging to get the watercolor to stay in the lines! I wanted the burned parts to stand out from the rest.
Once both pieces were finished, I was questioning if this was a good idea because I wasn't fully satisfied with the outcome! So, I went back to the drawing board to have a second go at it and see which versions I would want to gift.
The second time around, I used similar techniques, only I applied watercolor for the base and acrylic mixed with glazing medium over top of that. The result was a pretty good coverage, with the wood grain still showing through. After they dried, I sprayed them with a sealant to make them water resistant and more durable.
In the end, I decided the second pair were the better of the two versions and the ones I want to give. Next time I meet up with my friend, I'm going to give these to her, and we'll see how well the kiddos like them.
Materials and Supplies
â—‹Wood pieces
â—‹Paints, watercolor and acrylic (also acrylic glazing medium)
â—‹Spray fixative, for preserving finished work
â—‹Wood burning tool (opposite of glorified soldering iron, underwhelming performance lol)
â—‹Paintbrushes
â—‹Carbon paper, to transfer sketch
â—‹Pencil and paper, for sketching
Notes
It's important to wash dirty brushes right after use, or they will dry and become very hard and useless! Don't be like me and forget to do that 😆
Which version do you prefer? 🙂 Do you like to receive hand made gifts?
All images are of my own making, unless otherwise noted.
Thank you for reading and have a great day 👋.