My mother-in-law Barb introduced Serge to gardening a while back and he was hooked........ I knew just what to do.
This photo was the inspiration for the plaque that I created as a gift for my father-in-law Serge on his birthday.
I try to recycle as much as possible with my work, whether by just painting, refinishing, or even completely reinventing it.
In this particular case, I recycled an old solid oak cupboard door.
Here are the steps I took.
1) First I sanded off the old finish
2) Drew out my design
3) Painted in background
4) Painted in design
5) Signed it in the right hand corner
6) Sealed with outdoor gloss varathane 5 coats (it is UV protected)
Here are the photos
I drew out my pattern onto the freshly sanded board.
I painted in my background with a combination of black and white to create a multi toned grey rather than a solid hue.
Here is a close-up of the drawing
Here I begin outlining my first Monarch butterfly
Both Monarchs are now outlined
Now I can begin adding colour
Now I start adding dimension to the flower petals...it doesn't look like much now but it will
I add bright white to the petals for highlights
I'm sure you noticed the small holes in the door where the hinges used to go, well I decided to conceal them as much as possible by painting in some bees.
Below is the outline of one of the bee's, wait until you see them painted.
I finish off the flower and the butterflies by adding drop shadows to make it all look more lifelike.
Here is the finished plaque before the gloss varathane was applied
Here it is with gloss
I hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did.
This plaque was completed in one afternoon,....it always amazes me how quickly projects come together when I am truly inspired.
Happy crafting!
