Canvas Photo Collage

My sister in law asked me to make a canvas collage for her mother for Christmas.  Her mom's dh passed away earlier this year so it's sort of  a high pressure (in my mind) thing.  I didn't even know the man so I didn't know which direction to go.  My mom said he liked travel & fishing so I went from there.  

I had been putting it off because there were so many other things going on I just hadn't had time and I was worried about doing it.  Well, the guys were both down with a cold and  due to the snow storm I wasn't going to go anywhere by myself so I decided it was a fine time to work on it...

I started off by gluing map bits down to my canvas. 

These pieces are all from an Indiana map :)

I then mixed up a wash of Burnt Umber & water...

Painted the entire surface

then dabbed it here and there to give a mottled effect.

Really tones down the bright white and gives a more uniform color.

I then arranged the photos till I got a lay out I liked and took a photo of it so I would be able to replicate it.

Now for these next several steps I was so into the creating mode I totally forgot to take pictures.

I printed out several collage images (from Altered Pages) with things relevant to the person...vintage travel, fishing and the letter "W".    I decoupage them onto the canvas in strategic areas and let it dry. 

I then applied a heavy body gesso with a spatula (embossing paste would do the same thing) to add texture here and there.   After the gesso was dry I applied another layer of the Burnt Umber wash.

Finally when that layer was dried I applied adhesive and gold leaf to various areas.

The leafing not only adds color and shimmer but it also highlights the textured areas as well.

Here is a different angle to show off a bit of the gold leaf.

Next I added the photos...I know a totally different lo than the one above.  By the time I matted the main photo it didn't fit in the area I had it so I had to rearrange the photos several times till I settled upon this design.  Adhered everything to the canvas, added black ribbon to the edge, and signed my name!

And here it is finished hanging on my wall...

A close up of a couple of the details....

I love how the wash gives a more even tone to the background images and keeps them in the background so they don't overpower the photos. 

You can see a bit of the texture on the right side...

So, there you go....

two wintery afternoons, some photos, collage images and lots and lots of glue!

What fun :)

My SIL is going to give it to her mom for Christmas so it will be a while before I hear the final verdict.  I sure hope she likes it.