Thursday, May 31, 2012

{FAQ for DIY Urban Outfitters Art}

I have been happily overwhelmed by the response I have received from my DIY Urban Outfitters wall art. The amount of comments, pins, and features has been so exciting and humbling.

  
So first of all, thank you!

I have received quite a few questions about the products and techniques I used for the project, so I thought it would be easiest to include all of my answers in one post. If you don't see an answer to your question here, please leave one in the comments and I'll add it and my answer to this post. :)

Here we go...


Where did you find the copper tape, and what size did you use? 

I bought the tape at Hobby Lobby and used the 3/16 inch width. The size really is just a matter of preference, and they had quite a few different widths available.

Did you stick the tape on the photos after they were on the canvas?

Yes - I waited for the mod podge to dry completely and then stuck away!

I'm really curious to where you got the nature photos. Did you take them yourself or are they from calendar? 

I found all of the photos via Google searches. I had an idea of what images I wanted, so I did searches for words like "clouds", "birds in the sky", and "field of grass".

So mod podge just on the back of the photos? No mod podge on the front of the photos?

Mod Podge on the canvas, apply photo, then mod podge over the top of the photo to seal.

Were these pictures printed on photo paper? Did you have any issues with ink smearing? Any issues with brushstrokes from mod podge showing?  

I used a medium weight copy paper that had a matte finish. The paper was thinner than cardstock but a bit heavier than normal copy paper. I knew that light weight copy paper might tear, bubble or smudge easily from past experience, so I found this paper worked well. I would also recommend cardstock or even photo paper. I used a small foam brush, and made sure to brush in all directions to keep the brush strokes at a minimum. 

Did you use glossy or matte modge podge? 

I used matte mod podge, but that is really just a matter of personal preference.


Would it be okay to use photos printed on regular photo paper?  

I haven't used mod podge over glossy photo paper, but I have used it on just about any type of material and it works great. I don't think you would have any problem, but you might want to do a test photo first and see how it works. The key to a good result is to get a really good coat of mod podge under the photo to begin with as well. 


How did you blow the pictures up big enough to cut into multiple pieces without turning them blurry?

It was a bit of trial and error, and I had to discard a few of the photos I found because they weren't high enough quality. I increased their size in Adobe Photoshop for printing.


I hope this answers all of your questions! And...if you have made your own version of this I would love to see it, so link up your post about it or a picture!
 
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4 comments:

Pure Ella said...

Congrats on a beautiful project!

I have just read your answer about the photos you use... and I'm sorry but I do want to throw in my opinion about this.
As a photographer myself, I feel as though this is necessary.

If you have used someone else's photography (sounds like it was also used without permission) that would really be stealing - as you do not mention the artist's credits anywhere and only show your own logo/ name, making it appear as though it's all your own work - including the photography.

I'm not entirely sure you did get approval to use these photos or not - but if you haven't I would suggest to contact the photographers and let them know of your usage. Then, credit them wherever you submit this artwork, so here on your original post or anywhere else you've used it.

Just saying I found them on google - also misleads people that they can just 'take' things that don't belong to them. If it's for entirely personal use - that may be fine (as no one would ever prove it anyway), but once you hit that post button and make it full-blown global project on the internet.
Credits are necessary. And you should add that to your answer, that people need permission to use other people's photos.

I think I've said what I wanted to say....
Other than this, you are wonderfully talented and your projects are inspiring and beautiful.

Thanks!

Mandy Ford Art & Illustration said...

@Ella - Thanks so much for your comment on my project. I can completely understand your concern about the photos I used, and to be honest, since I found them as "free" images through google I didn't think to save the links or research who took the photos. Of course I also created this as something for my own home and not for a profit of any kind so for that reason it didn't occur to me at the time to record the sources. If I were to be contacted by any of the photographers I would of course give them credit for their work. It was never my intention to copy or take credit for an image that wasn't mine, just to create some artwork for my home.

Anonymous said...

I love this project and I am going to attempt this. Did you mount the canvas on a frame?
If so, would you please include the instructions for that.

Thank you!

Sereine said...

Un tout grand merci pour toutes vos explications! :-)))

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