How to make Dino Painting

Ok if you read my previous post on Flynn's dinosaur pictures I said it was possible to make one even if your kiddies are past the extremely free painting stage. You can get there help to do parts of this or you could do it solo. This technique should work for any kind of words and animal silhouettes. So you will need a canvas or a board to paint on, the one I’m using is mdf board from the hardware store, because I’m going to add some handles to the bottom so that bags hat and so forth can be hung from it. The mdf board can be bolted straight into the wall (a job I leave for tortoise). Carbon Copy paper, you could use tracing paper but the carbon paper is so much faster and gives a darker line to follow. I had to ask at the newsagent counter for it as it’s not a popular item anymore so they sell it by the sheet, one piece can be used multiple times. And some acrylic paint, and brushes, and a computer with printer.

Step one (above), print out the images you want on your painting, arrange them till your happy, then I copied the letters because I wanted a definite idea of where they were going to end up, with the dinosaurs I just knew roughly where I would place them. Then I filled these areas with some rough colour, I blended cadmium yellow and orange to give a nice hot lettering effect, and I threw in a bit of cadmium red too.  Wait for it to dry, that won’t take very long if you live in this hot climate.

(above) Next I took some bubble wrap, painted the wrap with some white paint and Flynn and i pressed or stamped it onto the board, it leaves a nice repeated print. We randomly stamped away, then did another layer with a brown (burnt sienna) we did that immediately so it would smudge a bit with the white. You don’t have to be precious as the desired effect is that haphazard random look. Then I took a small plastic cup mixed about 2 tablespoons roughly of water with a bit of paint and Flynn was allowed to flick, dribble it across. It works best with a sharp flick of the wrist. Together Flynn and I flicked lemon yellow and green (mixed from cadmium yellow and ultramarine blue) with gusto. (below)

When this was all dry I drew / scribbled diagonally across the lettering to give it some more definition with a red coloured pencil. Then I added some tiny dotting details in burnt sienna brown mixed with a dash of ultramarine blue, where I thought the large t-rex was going to make him a bit more impressive.

Then using your carbon paper trace the lettering over again, lining it up carefully, and any other shapes you want, Its a bit hard to see the outline of the diplodocus  but in real life its visible enough to work with. The next step is magic, fill in your negative space around your lettering and dinosaurs!

I did 2 layers for the background an ultramarine blue, the darker one let it dry then dry brushed a ultramarine mixed with white blue over it. Dry brush is as it sounds a brush dipped into the paint and don't dip it into your water.  I went back in after this and added a little bit of white and brown for eye definition. I hope this was explained well enough, go ahead and try your own version!

PS. Eli reached up to the table I was working on pulled this jar without me noticing, broke it and I caught him as he was about to shove broken glass a paint into his mouth!! man that was close, I need eyes in the back of my head.