EASY WALL DECAL ART

WALL DECAL ART

March 16, 2015 | ILLUSTRATION INSPIRATION

Who says everyone can’t have a Picasso moment?!  MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO?? RIGHT? 

When I found out I was pregnant with my first, my son, Max, I really hated the idea of conforming to a “normal” nursery theme, but I felt challenged by my exhaustion, to have my “normal” Picasso moments of artistically crafty brilliance. So, I set out to find my compromise…

After wandering Babies r Us for the millionth time, with no real direction on what to do for my son’s bedroom, I found myself standing in the nursery clearance section. (It was suddenly, conveniently located next to the women’s potty, if you wonder how a seven month pregnant woman WANDERED anywhere, and I swear it had never been located there before, or I WOULD HAVE NOTICED IT…) As if fate had led me there, I noticed some rather cute, discontinued wall decals. For those of you who have never played with these before, they stick like stickers onto walls, etc, but usually come off pretty easily, when you need to remove them. They are perfect for temporary living arrangements, changing of themes as needed, or just plain indecision! I fell in love with the little woodland critters. $7! I knew I needed to purchase Foxy and his friends and find a way to incorporate their cute little faces into my critter room idea.

I found some old canvases in our shed I had been hoarding for future works of art, and decided I was going to head into the direction of critter canvas artwork, done in a child-like way. I mean, if they can stick to a wall, they can stick to a “fake” wall, right? (We were renting, and non-permanency was just as important as my indecision.) BUT, how would I use them? I couldn’t just stick them to this giant canvas. (Insert the visual of gears in my head, spinning, spinning, spinnnnnnnnnnng…)

I considered ideas, pretty much day and night for a couple days. As usual, I would swear the final concept came to me in my sleep. I decided I could do an alphabet collage. I also decided that perhaps, all these animals needed a mutual place to hang, and that picture in my head, became a large, old oak. An old oak tree seemed almost classic baby artwork to me, but per my usual, nothing I do, is generally just the “norm.”

My next thought, maybe I should incorporate some geometric shapes with those ABCs? Seemed easy enough and primitive in a way to coordinate with the critter/tree artwork style. So, as sturdy as the old oak, but as sly as the fox, the idea for my first nursery Picasso was forming…WALL DECAL ART! 

Next up, I researched some more vinyl stickers–my ABCs. (I wasn’t about to free-form cute font style letters, freehand! DUH, I love computer graphics, remember?) I wanted the letters to be fun, but somehow resemble the whimsical “once upon a time” look in my head. I ordered my vinyl ABCs online from a random vinyl letter Etsy seller. I chose brown, because it seemed dark enough to overcome most of the rest of the picture in my head, but also coordinate with it, and because it seemed like a good boy color, with the green and brown of the tree, and ultimately the blue sky. So, as I waited on Postman Pat, who seemed as slow as a turtle to an impatient pregnant woman with an idea, I started painting…

I used my kitchen canisters for the circle templates. I used a spice container for the smallest one. These would be my geometric “leaves.” I randomly placed them throughout the upper half of the canvas and planned my simple oak trunk. I outlined all of these things before I began painting, and often moved or tweaked items as I worked with just regular Scotch tape. I planned my branches to scatter the critters on, being careful not to use two of the same near each other, or too much of one color in one area. I feverishly painted and planned.

After my basic tree was “planted,” I added my letters and my critters. I also painted on top of the critters to “shade” them and make them “fit” into the picture as if they were planned to go together. At the end, I chose an extra special touch for the top of the artwork–glow-in-the-dark painted stars in the sky. Almost four years later, they still light up when the bedroom lights go out at bedtime. That was the perfect ending to my nursery canvas tale. (Soon-to-be mom was wiser than ‘ole Mister Owl.) 

I was so pleased with my Picasso, I made another one with some more discount decals. What boy doesn’t need a monkey or two, in his room? 

These were really fun to do, somewhat unusual and unique, like the boy he is becoming, yet, in line with other clearance accessories I mod-podged together in what became his Bedroom Zoo. I planned it right, as his favorite toy to this day, after his cars, is his stuffed confidant, Raffe.

I’d highly recommend trying one of these creative works of art, even if you feel you can’t paint. They were whatever I wanted them to be, and I didn’t have to design the best parts of the art–the animals and the letters–only incorporate them!