Rustic Deer Silhouette Painting

Micah is probably the hardest person to buy gifts for, besides my dad. Both of them are infuriating. If there's something they want, either: A. I can't afford it (a watch for 2 grand?!) or B. They get it before I get the chance to. So I've had to rely on my creativity for their presents. For the past few holidays that me & Micah have celebrated together, I started painting things for him. Now he's gotten to the point where he just straight up asks for a painting. So, as I was pondering what I was going to get him for our 1st Valentine's Day as Mr. & Mrs., my mind automatically went to the spare canvas I had laying around from a past project (I got the cheap-o ones that came in a 2 pack from Hobby Lobby & only needed 1). 


I was perusing Pinterest (I could write a whole post on how much I love that site.) a while back & came across this post. 

DIY Deer Head Silhouette Wall Art Decor

As I've previously established, Micah is extremely outdoorsy. Not to mention, he keeps threatening to put up dead & mounted animals everywhere, so any way that I can give him a deer head, but on my terms is perfect!


First, I found a deer head silhouette online that I liked. I couldn't get the printer to work (Don't judge me, at least I'm admitting how technically un-savvy I am.), so I just free handed the design straight onto my blank canvas with a pencil. Of course this would be the perfect time to show you a picture of my deer in its free handed greatness, but, as I mentioned in my 1st post, I forgot to take pictures during the process. If you don't feel comfortable free handing stuff, I suggest printing out the image you want & getting it blown up to your preferred size, then using transfer paper (also called graphite paper) to get it onto your canvas. (I saw this paper at Michael's in the acrylic/craft paint aisle, & I know Hobby Lobby has it, too.) 


I picked green for my background because its Micah's favorite color, & it seemed nature-y & manly. It took for freaking ever quite a few layers of paint to get the background looking like a solid shade of green instead of a splotchy mess. Then, I started in on the silhouette. I squirted a thickish white paint & tan paint (both are acrylic, as is the green I used) directly onto the canvas, & mixed the two together as I painted. Do the same for smaller areas, like the antlers, but be careful to use very small dabs of paint. I like this method because it made the color uneven & textured, but if you want a more uniform look you might want to premix the paint or use just one color. 

This could also be a 'finished product' if you didn't want to antique it. 

Once everything was dry (this is VERY important) & how I wanted it, I took my brown antiquing finish & added it on top. Just like with the other paint, I squirted it directly on top of the canvas. I started moving it around with a sponge brush (go in circles), then rubbing it off with a paper towel. I also found it helpful to dampen another paper towel to remove some of the excess. You need to work pretty fast so the antiquing medium stays wet enough to wipe off

The left half has the antiquing medium on it, & the right half is still plain. 

Keep going until the whole canvas is done. After I had a nice base, I went back & darkened some areas, like around the edges & in the body of the deer. Just mess with it until you're happy! Try not to get too heavy handed with the antiquing... but, in case you do, that damp paper towel will be your BFF. 

Ta daaaa!

Since I had all of these supplies already on hand, this lovely Valentine didn't cost me a dime, & my hubby loved it! Please let me know what you think!

The paints I used. The green is called Arbor Green.