Elephant Sunset Painted Canvas

Hello my Creative Friends,

I hope you are all well. In Today’s Tutorial I will show you how to create your own Elephant Sunset Painted Canvas. You can always change the images of the elephants to something else if you prefer, you can follow the same steps I did and choose a different silhouette if you want.

Canvas for Crafting

I bought a 12″ x 12″ Canvas a few weeks ago. I thought it would be the perfect size for this craft. 12″ x 12″ Art Canvas.

This is the Canvas out of the Plastic wrapping.

Finding and Printing the Elephant Silhouettes

I looked up ‘2 Elephant Silhouettes’ on Google Images. I wanted 2 Elephants facing each other with their trunks up in the air or forming a love heart. I didn’t see any picture I loved of 2 Elephants together so I chose one free-to-use Elephant Silhouette I really liked and saved it to my Computer.

I printed the same Elephant Silhouette twice. I found my saved Image on my Computer. I right-clicked on the Image and chose the Print option. I clicked the up arrow in the Box beside the option ‘Copies of each picture’ to say 2. I chose the Size to be printed ’10 x 15 cm (2)’. I unticked the Box that says ‘Fit picture to frame’ to ensure all of the Image would be seen and printed. I was happy with how everything looked so I clicked Print. I printed the images on regular printer paper. Xerox Printer Paper.

Tracing the Elephant Silhouettes onto the Canvas

I cut around each of the Elephant Silhouettes. I got 1 of the images and placed it facing down near the bottom of the Canvas. I put some Sellotape on the top and bottom of the image to hold it in place. Sellotape.

I used a dark pencil and traced around the outline of the Elephant. I did this twice to ensure it would be seen on the canvas.

This is the outline of the elephant on the canvas. 12″ x 12″ Art Canvas.

I drew around the outline on the Canvas with the same dark pencil.

I got the other Elephant image and this time I sellotaped it to the Canvas facing upwards so that it would be facing the other Elephant. Sellotape.

I traced around the outline of the Elephant twice with a dark pencil.

I removed the sellotaped image from the Canvas and traced around the outline on the canvas with the pencil.

This is a close up image of the 2 Elephants drawn onto the Canvas. 12″ x 12″ Art Canvas.

Paint for the Elephant Sunset Painted Canvas

To Paint the Sunset I chose Red, Orange, Yellow and White Acrylic Paint. I mixed red and yellow acrylic paint to make the orange, it needs much more yellow paint compared to the red. Mix them together until you get the colour you like. I also used a flat 1 inch paintbrush. ACRYLIC PAINTS.

I squirted a dollop of each colour paint onto different sections of the Canvas. I started with the darkest shade and worked my way down to the lightest shade. ACRYLIC PAINTS.

Painting the Elephant Sunset Painted Canvas

I got the paintbrush and spread the red paint across the top of the Canvas. I used long brushstrokes spreading the paint from 1 side of the canvas to the other. Paint Brushes Set.

I added red paint around the front and top edges of the canvas.

I painted the orange section of the sunset next. I blended it with the bottom of the red section by adding long brushstrokes across the canvas. You can add more paint if you need to, I had plenty with what I had on the canvas. Paint Brushes Set.

I blended the yellow with the orange paint next and spread the paint evenly to the bottom of the canvas. ACRYLIC PAINTS.

I painted the sides of the canvas when I was blending each section.

I started to spread the white paint across the canvas. Paint Brushes Set.

I blended the white paint into the canvas. I added more yellow and orange marks onto the canvas by adding a little paint at a time to the paintbrush and randomly adding them to different areas of the canvas. There is no right or wrong way of doing it as the sky can be a beautiful blend of colours. ACRYLIC PAINTS.

This is a side view of the painted sunset canvas.

An upside down view of the canvas.

This is a close up image of the bottom of the canvas showing the outline of the elephants.

Painting the Elephant Silhouettes

I got my ‘Black uni POSCA Acrylic Paint Pen 0.7 mm’ and started to fill in the first elephant. POSCA Paint Pens.

I coloured in more of the elephant.

Below is a close up image of the elephant mostly coloured with the paint pen. POSCA Paint Pens.

I kept going until I had the elephant silhouette filled with black paint.

This is the side view of the first elephant completed on the canvas.

A close up photo of the finished elephant.

Below is the other side view of the Canvas.

I repeated the same process with the second elephant.

The second elephant half finished. POSCA Paint Pens.

This is both of the Elephant Silhouettes completed.

Below is a close up image of the elephants. POSCA Paint Pens.

A side view of the elephant sunset painted canvas.

Full view of the elephant canvas.

Finishing the Elephant Sunset Painted Canvas

I added black acrylic paint to the bottom of the canvas and the sides on the bottom part of the canvas. I also went over the elephants with black paint and a small paintbrush to fill in any gaps and make them more vibrant. ACRYLIC PAINTS.

Close up image of the bottom of the canvas.

Side view of the Elephant Sunset Painted Canvas.

Other side view of the canvas.

Upside down view of the elephant sunset painted canvas.

This completed the Elephant Sunset Painted Canvas.

Below is the finished canvas on the mantlepiece.

This is the Completed Elephant Sunset Painted Canvas on the worktop leaning against the wall.

Side angle of the finished canvas.

Close up image of the elephant sunset painted canvas.

Below are some final images of the completed craft.

Conclusion

I was really happy with the final result of the Elephant Sunset Painted Canvas. I love the blend of colours in the sky and the contrast of the black on the Elephant Silhouettes and the ground. I like the images of the Elephants as they can represent strength, loyalty, good luck, prosperity, wisdom, success, and protection.

I hope it inspires you to give painting a canvas a try even if you have never done any previously. You don’t have to be an expert especially for something like this where you can blend different colours together. You can use different colours for your sky if you want, you could add pink, purples or blues for a different effect.

This would be a thoughtful D.I.Y. Gift for an Engagement, a Wedding, Anniversary, or for a Couple moving into a New Home. I’m sure they would appreciate such a handmade with love gesture from a friend. You could add the Couples Names on the Elephants Bodies with a White, Silver or Gold Paint Pen. You could draw and colour a Love Heart above the 2 Elephants trunks with a Black Paint Pen. If it’s for a Wedding or Special Anniversary you could add the Date on the Canvas. POSCA Paint Pens.

I hope I provided some ideas for your D.I.Y. Crafting. If you have any questions on this Craft don’t hesitate to fill out the Comment Box below this Blog Post and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. If you try something similiar let me know how it goes, I’d love to hear how it went for you. Happy Painting Everyone.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my Blog Post.

Always Grateful,

T.D.C.

xoxox