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Monday, July 23, 2012

Sock Monkey Canvas



I've been in Florida for a couple of weeks
and I thought the best way to get myself out of
that "now-I-have-endless-laundry-to-do" funk
would be to jump right in on a big project.

That's big as in big,
not to be confused with big as in
"very involved, time-consuming, and dread-ly".


I made that word up.
It's a combination of deadly and dread.


As in, I am dreading this very involved
and time-consuming project because ...


... well, because it's deadly.  ?


ANYWAY!!!
It's not that.




So one of my very sweet girlfriends has
spent hours and days decorating her little
boys' bedroom ... she has
repainted furniture and walls, and she
found some super cute sock-monkey bedding.


Above each bed she wants to hang a
fun sock monkey canvas -
what a fun way to switch up the whole
headboard thing.

She got a great start on redecorating ...
... and then lost momentum when life happened
and she got busy with other projects.


That's where I come in.


And I am so grateful to have had such a fun
project to help bring me out of my
 post-vacation funk!




First, I used black and white spray paint
to mottle the design on each canvas.


Don't be alarmed!!
She told me to start over completely!
I promise.



Then I squeezed two shades of green
acrylic paint onto a paper plate
and rolled the paint onto each canvas
(front, back, and sides)
until there was good, opaque coverage.




It took several coats to achieve opacity.




There.  Love my moving blanket.
It makes a great drop cloth.


I'm happy my boy decided to use it when
he sprayed rocks with gold paint.
Otherwise, I would have to admire his over-spray
every time I step outside my studio door,
instead of only when I spread out my moving blanket.




I made a really large sock monkey pattern
and a pattern for each of the boys' names.

Then I transferred the main pattern
lines onto each canvas.

Let the fun begin!!!




So my very sweet girlfriend Laura
thought it would be fun if one of the monkeys
was hanging upside down.




And then I flipped the pattern and made
the other monkey downside up.

Wait.  Yes, that's right.




Sometimes a green base coat will show
through your paint, so I blocked in some of the
design with white acrylic paint.
I shaded around the left and lower sides
of each big shape.




I used the colors in the sock monkey blanket.
Fun bright colors like green,
blue, orange, red and ...
... well, sock-monkey-brown.




I used blue painter's tape to mask off the
areas I didn't want to stencil.






Then I used a stitch stencil to give the
monkeys their sock-like texture.









I removed the tape when the paint was dry
and used a sanding block to distress
the canvases.




I thought they needed something more.
So I added a random star stencil
and a fun monkey tail.








I like the randomness of the stars!
It reminds me of confetti!!

If these were girly canvases,
I would have used my Extreme Glitter.
 Just sayin'.




I spattered the canvases with white paint.
Just to give it that monkey-business look.

And now I'm having trouble with the eyes.


Sock monkey eyes.


Buttons??


What size??


Placed where??




 Great big?
Or really small??


Close together?
Or farther apart??





I'm not sure yet.  I have to give these
monkeys some more thought.


hmm ...


Psst ... hey, Laura?  What do you think??


peace and just-the-right-size
sock-monkey-eyes



Oh, and I will be posting a final picture of these
sock monkeys hanging on the bedroom wall.
Stay tuned for that!

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