July in Christmas

Yes, you read that right.  The familiar saying of "Christmas in July" is reversed this time because I painting a piece for my brother-in-law who serves in the army, and his family.  I needed a Christmas present for them, and I know they like the Hawkeyes (no way this Iowa State fan is doing something including that), hunting and the army.  (I know that's pretty limited, but humor me here!)   So, I decided to paint the Stars and Stripes. 


I love to paint over collage, so I collaged many patriotic images onto a canvas prepped with gesso.  Images include coins, statue of liberty, songs, famous past patriots and maps.  I printed out some images, and then printed out more.  I collaged them onto the canvas with acrylic medium.  It's amazing how many pages it takes to cover a roughly 24" by 34" canvas.  After letting the medium dry, I tinted the entire surface with a yellow ochre/ burnt sienna mix to even out the color.

Next, I simply measured out the correct dimensions for the red and white stripes and blue field.  I painted the acrylic as washes to let the collage show through.  I kept the color pretty muted for a folk look.  After that dried, I measured and cut out a star stencil and painted on 50 white stars.

Two coats of varnish, and this project was complete!  I loved collaging a painted a themed piece.  I plan to make several more flag paintings similar to this one.  I also have ideas to create other themed pieces in the future.