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How to Bring a Canvas to Life

The English language idiom "bring to life" means to make something -- such as a canvas -- "exciting and interesting." Indeed, for centuries, canvas, a closely woven fabric material often made from cotton or linen, has been used by artists as the site where life is presented, represented and showcased using oils, acrylics or other materials. The images or aspects of life that make a decorated canvas interesting depends on a person's style and taste. However, there are a few basic techniques for decorating canvases that are useful no matter what the content of the canvas may be.

Instructions

    • 1

      Print a memorable photo on the canvas. Photos from birthdays, weddings, vacations or happy moments in life with friends or family can be brought to life on a canvas using a canvas printing service. Such services allow you to upload a photo online and, if you choose, modify the photo and print on canvas after which it is mailed to you.

    • 2

      Paint canvas with colors. Transform a blank canvas into one filled with color by using colors associated with life and livelihood, such as reds, pinks, yellows, greens and blues. Either trace a pattern onto the canvas using a stencil or use a freehand technique to paint your own abstraction.

    • 3

      Enhance an existing painted canvas. Canvases that are already painted may be dull or lackluster due to boring colors or fading over time. Bring such a canvas to life by enhancing it using a gloss paint, adding glitter or using a paint brush to add paint in globs to give the canvas a wet, textured look. This latter technique speaks to the artistic technique used by Cornwall artist, John Dyer, to elicit emotion from onlookers, who has said: "I really enjoy squeezing out a big lump of paint directly onto the canvas and leaving it; fresh, immediate and sometimes shocking."

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