Tree Art

For Christmas, my mom asked me to make her some artwork for their family room. Unfortunately, between the move and other holiday bustle, the painting got pushed back for a couple months. However, once I finally got to it, this little project took no time at all.
I started with a board that my dad painted and distressed to look a bit like a piece of salvaged barn wood.

And that's how it stayed for two months, until one sunny February morning, I decided to revisit this project. I wanted to paint a tree on the board, so I searched for online images for inspiration. I settled on an oak tree because there are  so many in the area my parents live and their many limbs and intricate branches make them an interesting subject. The first thing I did was cover the board with clear contact paper.

Next, I used a dry erase maker to free hand the tree onto the board, using my online pictures as a guide.

The finished drawing:

After that, came the most tedious part of the project; I used an exacto knife to cut around the tree. I decided that I wanted to paint the negative space around the tree and leave the tree unpainted.

Cutting the entire outline took a couple hours, since I wanted to be exact and there were many little details in the drawing. 

After cutting, it was time to paint. I decided to "white wash" the negative space around the tree. To create a "white wash" solution, I first dipped my brush into white paint (just once!) and then dipped it into a container of water. I mixed up the water to make a very thin white solution, perfect for this project.

Next, I painted the white wash onto the board, covering the entire surface area. Luckily, the contact paper held up well and even repelled the water, despite the uneven surface.

Because the solution was so thin, it dried in about 10 minutes, and I was able to peel of the plastic to reveal the finished product:

I gave my my mom her gift that day, just in time for Christmas  Valentine's Day, and now it hangs nicely in their family room.