DIY Audrey Hepburn Canvas Wall Art

Hello dear people!
    I had the most lovely blog break and confirmed the fact that there are many hours in the day in which to do things I thought I didn't have time for. Among these things was the art of painting things! I am not a terribly fine artist--I don't dedicate enough time to learning to be so--but I do enjoy mucking about with paints now and then, and this month I was able to play with it! Besides the sort of composition that usually comes to mind when one speaks of "painting", I played around with canvas wall-art. I had been vaguely wanting something big and black and white and Audrey-themed. When I was clicking through Pinterest for DIY gift ideas, I came across this canvas-print from Ikea:

//Isn't she a beauty?//

As much as I love Audrey Hepburn and as much as I wanted this canvas print, I knew I couldn't spend $40 (not including shipping/handling) and then I walked into Michael's and saw a stack of seven 12x12 canvases for $20. As soon as I bought the stack for various gifts, I decided to use four to re-create/change this poster into something for My Lair. My vision was that image above projected onto four separate canvases that could be hung altogether, or a few inches apart, or even mixed up if I wanted a strange modern-art effect. (LET US DISSECT AUDREY, MUM!)

What followed was an "eye-balling" test-run on four mini-canvases. That round turned out pretty much a hot mess. I misjudged Audrey's mouth and nose and she ended up looking wretched. Vexed with the product, I didn't know if I wanted to use four of those canvases for something that would probably not turn out brilliantly. But I do have a stubborn streak. So stubborn, in fact, that I voluntarily made the choice to do it the mathematically.

Get that? 

Me.....and math....together.

I printed off the picture of the Ikea canvas which was about a 4x4 square, then folded it into quarters, folded those quarters into four-eight pieces each, and started taking it bit by bit with a ruler, sketching it onto the big canvases with painstaking precision. It was a really strange exchange: one entire "canvas" on my print-out only measured 1 inch which meant that I was multiplying by twelve (or dividing by twelve) to draw what I needed on my own canvases. 1/8" became 1.5" and I would measure angles in a way that blew my brain. I seriously have not done this much geometrical math since graduation...it felt powerful. ;) By the time I was finished with the 2+ hours of measuring and sketching, the thing looked pretty darn good, but I knew the final test would be painting in the shadows and seeing how it looked when finished. 

Guys...I think it looked pretty much amazing... at least, I am satisfied.

For me, the best part about it was trusting to math to make everything correct. Yes, I felt like I was making random angles and marks and blobs on a canvas (especially that darned left-hand piece!) but I knew that if I could just follow the mathematical measurements, it HAD to come out right...and it did! There is probably an easier way to do this project (a projector? Bwahaha) but I found that the satisfaction of doing something on my own without the aid of anything but a little 4x4 piece of paper, a ruler, and a pencil was worth all the inconvenience.

If you want to make your own art like this, you will need the following materials:

• 4 square canvases (I used 12x12)
• A ruler, your image of choice, and pencil
• Acrylic paint and brushes
• A fixative (I skipped this, but I have heard hairspray works to set the paint!)

Good luck! This is a beautiful, fun, chic project and makes a lovely conversation piece for any room. The size (50x50 the way I have it hung) is perfect for an empty wall, and I just love the....Hepburnism! 

Hope you enjoyed seeing my brain-child! I love interior-design/decorating