Page 21 - The Decorative Painter Summer 2015

OIL
All Aboard
PHYLLIS D. GIBBS cda
Combine vintage paper items with realism in oils
to create a one-of-a-kind collage for the railroad enthusiast.
I’ve had many opportunities to work at a paper show with my cousin. If you’ve never attended one, I can tell you that they are an endless source of materials and ideas to use with your painting. Here, I’ve combined a vintage
Pennsylvania Railroad stock certificate, a postcard, and an embellished custom-cut mat board with paintings of rail- road items. My neighbor, a model railroader, loaned me a lantern from which to paint; I added a drawing of a watch, and I found copyright-free pictures on the Internet to in- corporate into the design.
MAKING IT YOUR OWN
While you are free to create a piece that mirrors mine, you may want to instead incorporate papers and painted items that are unique to you or the recipient of the paint- ing. The Internet is a great source for finding various paper items you can purchase. Once you find the materials you want to use, take pictures of the objects or make copies of the paper items or the photos you take. Make a pattern from the copies by tracing the outline onto tracing paper, using dotted lines for any value changes, then resize it in a copier to fit your space. Take your ideas to a framer. You will have many colors of mat board to choose from and can help you design the cutout spaces for your vintage papers while al- lowing space to paint the other items. Something to keep in mind is that ready-made mats and frames are much less expensive than custom ones.
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