Forever Young

I have graduated from small canvas art pieces using House Mouse images exclusively, to larger canvas using, well, whatever I feel like using.  Today I felt like using a photo of Loretta Young, a popular movie star from the 1930's and 40's.  She played with leading men like Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy and Tyrone Powers.  They were all legends in that golden age of Hollywood.  My favorite movies include The Bishop's Wife (the original) with Cary Grant, and Mother Was a Freshman, co-starring a grown up Shirley Temple ( and no I am NOT 100 years old, there used to be things called reruns on TV).

I made a play with words for the theme of my canvas, using her last name and the lyrics from Bob Dylan's song to come up with "Forever Young."  I wanted to keep the vintage look to the canvas using only what was in my stash.  First I painted the canvas with matte medium and a very light teal colored paint to cover the original picture someone had already painted (the canvas came from Goodwill for 99 cents).

Next came torn tissue papers and vintage-printed napkins.  Once the background was finished, I adhered Loretta with Mod Podge after giving her eyes, hair and lips a little color with Copics.  I added a string of pearls to dress  her up a little.

After printing the lyrics to Dylan's song onto plain copy paper, I decided not to use the whole song--it would cover my hard-earned background--so I tore off one verse from the song, something a little inspirational, something that maybe a mom would hang in her daughter's room.  It reads, "May God bless and keep you always, May your wishes all come true, May you always do for others and let others do for you.  May you build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rung, May you stay forever young, forever young..."  For the rest of the lyrics, check them out HERE.

After using assorted chipboard letters to blot paint around the words Forever Young, I illustrated around them with paint and Copic, using vintage buttons for the letter "O" in both words.  A stamped image from Queen Kat Designs, some chipboard stickers and a bit of leftover felt and ribbon borders finished off the major embellishing on my canvas.  I again used white arylic paint to bring out some of the more subtle parts of my canvas.

I wish I could show you a time-lapse YouTube video of how I create, but:
1.  I don't now how to edit the video to time lapse, and
2.  I take my sweet time and change my mind often enough for it to be a biog fat pain in the butt.

All I know is if you haven't tried it, or are getting bored with what you're doing now, find yourself a small canvas and some bottles of acrylic paint and have some fun.  Whether the medium is for you or not, you will come out of it feeling more relaxed and maybe a little surprised at what may be revealed to you!
And whatever you do, keep crafting!