Do it yourself, Part 2

As promised here is how you can make yesterdays paintings yourself.

Start up the Computer!

1. Open Microsoft Word on your computer.

(don't worry... I'm really not into computers but even I can do this!)

2. Click 'insert' and choose 'picture'.

3. Choose a picture from your file.

4. The picture will pop up in your Word screen.

5. Click on the picture to select it.

6. Click on 'format' (on top of the screen) and choose 'picture'.

7. Click on 'recolor' and choose 'black and white'.

!!! Very important: Not every picture comes up well in black and white. Lets say just one or two out of ten pictures will work. You can work a bit with brightness and contrast but mostly you'll see soon enough if the picture works or not. A picture that's to dark or bright won't work. Pictures of young children are very hard as their face doesn't show enough contrast yet. But don't give up. Try different photo's. At some point a good one will appear!!!

(I think for Ties I tried 20 or more pictures before one worked!)

8. If you are happy with the picture expand it over the whole page. So enlarge it to fit on an A4 paper.

9. Print it.

This is where the drawing and painting begins!

10. Paint a canvas in the background colour of your choice (not to dark!)

11. Lay a transfer paper on the canvas and on top of that the black and white print.

12. Use a bit of painters tape to prevent moving of the papers.

13. Draw around all the black shapes (take a blue pen so you can see what you have done already). 

You don't have to be to precise. Just be extra careful around the face. That's the most important part.

If there is a white part in an black part, draw around that as well (see his lips for example).

And don't forget the tiniest spots.

Make sure you push your pen hard enough for it to transfers on the canvas. Take a pen with a pointy tip!

14. If you finished drawing remove the papers from the canvas.

15. Choose a fine pencil with a pointy tip and start painting inbetween the lines you drew.

Sometimes it all looks a bit confusing (mostly the hairs and clothes) but you can look at your A4print for references on what to paint black or not.

Again it's not a big problem if you mis a bit (especially not the hair, etc). Just make sure you get the face right!

15. Paint the name. I did it by printing it on paper (choose a nice font and the right size) and transferring it on the canvas again with the transfer paper. Choose a bright colour to paint.

That's it...your ready!

And believe me, it's not as hard as it looks. I've seen people do it without any painting skills and it worked out fine! I guess you need a little bit of patience and that's it!

If you want to give it a go, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need some help!

moncherry@live.com.au