Homemade Photo Canvases - Great Wall Decorations

Nowadays there are plenty of options to buy or order photo canvases with your favourite photograph. A canvas typically refers to a colourful or black-and-white image printed on a special fabric, stretched and mounted on a wooden frame to create a painting-like effect. In fact you can make such a photo canvas at home yourself, by manually transferring your chosen photograph onto fabric. Below: how to do it, and some of my finished pieces.

To make a photo canvas you will need:

• a canvas-covered frame in your desired size, e.g. 20×20 cm (Ls 1.56 at Depo);
• Liquitex Gloss Super Heavy Gel (~Ls 13.50 on ebay.com);
• decoupage medium varnish (Ls 5.99 at Marina shop);
• a laser printer printout in the required size (mirrored/reversed);
• a brush;
• water.

Manual photo transfer onto canvas

1. Apply the gel in an even layer onto the canvas. This must be done so that no spot is left uncovered and the gel layer is smooth and without ridges.

2. Place the printed sheet face-down onto the gel and smooth it onto the surface. Do this carefully to avoid any air bubbles forming anywhere. Press the edges and corners down with your fingers.

3. Leave for more than two hours, or preferably overnight.

4. The next day, take water and a brush. Moisten the top surface of the paper just enough for it to start peeling away.

5. Then with your palms and fingertips, using light rubbing movements, rub off the top paper layer until the image is fully revealed. Be careful not to press too hard, as this can cause the whole image to come off. Small abrasions will create an aged effect - no need to worry about those - but large torn patches will not create a good impression.

6. Allow to dry slightly and then coat with the varnish to prevent the photo canvas from fading over time. Your wall decoration or original gift is ready.

For my own pieces I chose black-and-white printouts of old photographs that spoke to me. After transferring the photographs onto fabric, I additionally painted the side edges of the canvases with white paint. By combining nine small photo canvases together, the result was an interesting bedroom wall decoration.