DIY Painted Valentines Heart inspired by "Jim Dine"

2012-01-16T15:49:00.000-08:00

Paint a heart in the style of pop artist Jim Dine for your loved one this Valentines. This step by step process makes it easy and fun. Customize your heart with your own colors and style and make a one-of-a-kind gift that your loved one will always treasure!

Materials & Cost:
5" X 7" canvas panel ~ $1
(2 - 3) Synthetic Brushes (small-medium) ~ $1 each
(5-10) Craft Acrylic Paint ~ $1 per bottle
Carbon Paper ~ $2
Recycled plastic cup/lid ~ Free
Paint Smock (old t-shirt) ~ Free
Newspaper ~ Free

Start our with a 5" X 7" flat canvas panel, found at any local art supply store. These panels can be easily framed in any standard frame. Or if you want to step it up a notch you can purchase wrapped canvas and simply hang on the wall as is. If you are in the Twin Cities area you can give our local canvas builder Champion Canvas some love.

Once you have your supplies; setup a work area on a flat surface, cover with some newspapers to protect your table. You can download the simple heart design we used and trace onto your canvas by laying the print out on top of the carbon paper and using a pen or pencil to draw over the lines. Or just draw your own heart on there. We used a sharpie marker to outline it so that we could clearly see the shape when painting, but this is not necessary.

Wear a paint smock to protect your clothing as acrylic paint dries hard into cloth and will not come out easily. Put your paint into recycled yogurt cups or on lids as a cheap alternative to an artists palette. Pick two colors for your heart design, use bright contrasting colors that will stand out against each other. Fill in your shapes with a medium sized brush with smooth flat brush strokes.

Use a small detail brush to pick a few different colors that are similar to your background colors and fill in in small swirling brush strokes. Fill in your heart with 2-3 different colors or more if you wish. Do the same for the background, mixing colors to create more variety on your plastic lid. Make it colorful and bright with a lot of texture!

In the end you will have created your very own "Jim Dine" inspired piece of Valentine's art! If you would like to create your own heart in an art studio instead of at home. Come into Simply Jane and get a lesson and use our professional paints and brushes.

Ghoulish Halloween Tips

2011-10-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

Whether you found the costume or it found you, creating a Halloween look is fun. To help spawn that ghoulish brainchild of yours, try these tried and true make-up tips:

Aging/ Dead Hair

Materials:
baby powder (or flour), hairspray

Technique:
Style your hair. Just before whitening it with the flour or baby powder, apply a coat of hairspray to your do. The fresh stickiness of the spray will act as an adhesive and help hold the powder in place. It’s going to be messy work; an outdoor or over-the-tub application might work best.

Scars and Festering Sores

Materials:
spirit gum, scar wax, liquid latex, blood gel , flesh colored make up
(first 4 sold at most costume retailers)

Technique:
Clean the intended boo-boo area and wash your hands. Place a small amount of scar wax between the palms of your hands and roll it like play dough. Once you’ve made a rope the length of the scar, apply a thin layer of spirit gum to the skin area you’ll be scarring. Place the wax rope on top of the spirit gum and begin, either with finger tips or a small spatula, fanning the edges of the wax out in an even, blended motion. The middle of the wax should appear slightly raised. Cut a line down the center of the wax with a toothpick to create a gruesome gouge. Brush liquid latex around the edge of the wax to seal the wax onto your skin. Let the liquid latex dry completely before sponging or dusting flesh colored makeup. To give your scar that fresh, festering look, add a touch of blood gel to the wax groove.

Check Out this Creepy Witch Make-Up Tutorial

Bad or Black Teeth

Materials:
Colored tooth enamel, black wax (sold at most costume retailers)

Technique: Clean or wipe the moisture from your tooth. Tooth enamel, which is essentially nail polish for your teeth, retails in a variety of colors including yellow, green, white and black. With the bottle’s brush, apply the enamel over the desired teeth to achieve instant missing or discoloration tooth effects. Lasts for several hours, but will wear off faster with eating or rubbing.

Technique:
To create zombie mouth or bad oral hygiene, try smearing black wax in uneven layers across your teeth. Black wax doesn’t hold as well or long as enamel, but it is non-toxic and will help do the trick. We suggest you keep the black wax handy and re-apply as needed. Fantastic for kids.

Costuming Tips

There are plenty of Halloween stores specializing in costuming out there, but we suggest checking out local antique stores or thrift stores for authentic wearables. Arc Value Village in Richfield, MN. They have many selections not only from their Halloween area but some great vintage wear at low prices.

Simply Jane Studio Blog

DIY Painted Valentines Heart inspired by "Jim Dine"

Ghoulish Halloween Tips