Bird Collage Canvas Art

This year was our year of handmade Christmas gifts.  My Mom wanted to make my sister some art work for her house, so she enlisted the help of me and my girls one weekend.  My sister has a combination of bright blues and greens in our house and has a new love for birds.  That was why we decided to make our own version of this Pretty Bird Wall Art. 

You will need scrapbook paper, mod podge, a canvas (or 2), sharpie permanent marker, foam brushes, and printouts of birds.

My Mom found a booklet of scrapbook paper that had all the colors that we were looking for.  We chose a darker printed sheet that we cut into strips for the outside edge of our canvas. 

Our canvases were 16 x 20in.  This way they would make a bigger impact on the wall we had in mind.  You can use smaller canvases if you are looking to fill a smaller space.  We started by applying Mod Podge to the outside edge of our canvas.  Then we placed our strips all the way around the edge, folding the extra over the front.  Add another layer of Mod Podge to the top of the paper to keep it in place.

The background of our canvas was going to be an abstract patchwork of our paper, so we cut up all of our favorite papers into random shaped pieces. 

 

You can now start using your Mod Podge to add your papers to the front of your canvas.  We used the straight edges of the papers along the edge of the canvas to give it a clean look.  Keep adding Mod Podge and papers until your entire surface is covered.  

 

 

Allow your canvas to dry and then reapply another layer of Mod Podge to the entire piece.  If you have any pieces that still need help sticking, apply yet another layer of Mod Podge and allow to dry.

Now it is time to add your branches and birds.  We googled bird images until we found the look we were looking for.  We wanted a few outlines showing the birds from different angles.  After we cut and laid out our bird images, we could see where we wanted our branches to be.

 

We freehanded our branches, starting at one side and working our way over.  We started by sketching in pencil in case of any mistakes.  After getting it just right, we traced over our pencil marks in permanent marker and then filled in our outline.  You may want to let your marker dry and recolor to make your image darker.

 

Trace your bird cut outs onto your branches with pencil.  Trace and fill in with your permanent marker.  We also freehanded a few different types and sizes of leaves onto a blank sheet of paper.  This way we could keep drawing until we got the right look.  We cut out those leaves and used them to trace our leaf shapes onto our branches.  For those of you that are more confident in your drawing skills, feel free to draw away.  I was a bit to nervous to do that. 

After we got everything drawn on in Sharpie, we went over the entire canvas with another coat of Mod Podge.  After your piece is dry, it is ready to be hung on your walls!  What's better than decorating your house with beautiful artwork that you have created yourself.  Or you could make it a gift to grace your friend's walls.  Artwork made with love!