The Vintage Canvas Look DIY

A gift to my brother in law, who loves to surf and paddle board

I have been wanting to experiment on canvas for a long time and after searching different posts on distressing, aging, chipping etc... all I could find was done on wood not canvas so I decided to try several different methods on a canvas square and see the results!

List of materials:

canvas

news paper

mod podge (or liquid glue and water mixture)

acrylic paint

a variety of brushes

powdered cinnamon

sand paper

sheet of paper for stenciling

exacto knife or silhouette cameo cutting tools for stenciling

What I did....

Start with an empty canvas. Mine is 12x12

Rip news paper sheets in pieces and mod podge them (or use a mixture of liquid glue and water) onto the canvas and its sides. Let dry.

Using a foam brush, paint the covered news paper canvas with acrylic white paint. Let dry.

Now, create your stencil! I used my silhouette cameo (but you can cut it by hand) and designed a 10 inch circle with the letters SUP (for Stand Up Paddle) in the middle. I had the machine cut it out of medium weight paper and I sprayed the back of the stencil with removable sticky spray (Krylon brand) and placed it on my painted canvas.

Choose a different color paint to contrast and brush it over the stencil. Be careful though! My news paper made wrinkles on the canvas and the paint sipped through. This will not be a perfect job and you will have to go back with a detailed brush to go over the letters to create straighter lines. I have a steady hand so I did not mind doing this step. It needs to look imperfect so it's no big deal if you can't get the straight lines.

After the paint has dried, sand the canvas to distress it. 

Make a "glaze" by adding water to brown acrylic paint (1 part paint for 3 parts water) and brush it all over the canvas. Wipe excess with a clean cloth or paper towel. This will give the white paint a dirty look and accentuate the wrinkles and holes even more!

To give your canvas a rusty look, all you need is a brush, mod podge (or liquid glue) and cinnamon powder.

With your detail brush, paint thin lines of glue on the canvas areas you want to look old and rusty and  cover them up with cinnamon. Let sit for a minute or so and shake off the excess.

With a foam or wide straight edge brush, apply mod podge all over the canvas (front and sides) to give your art work a protective layer. This process will give it a finished look.

I like the wrinkles, I like the dirty and rusty look and I love the contrast colors. 

Not bad for a first time experimenting on canvas!

Stephane has several interesting and fun websites he created and manages. If you love the ocean and water sports or simply like to bike on trails or around town, please check these out bellow.