Introduction: 3D Canvas Art

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Turn your canvas painting into a magical priceless work of art by adding every day elements to make it three dimensional.

Step 1: Draw/Paint Your Work of Art

  1. Pick out your canvas.
  2. Draw or paint your work of art using your medium of choice (acrylic, oil, water color..).

Step 2: Choose Your 3 Dimensional Elements

Depending on what you've painted, add 3 dimensional elements to bring your work of art to life.

For this wedding canvas 3D art you will need:

  1. Pair of scissors
  2. A small piece of sheer organza for the veil (1/4 yard)
  3. A small piece of soft silk-like frabric for the dress (1/2 yard)
  4. White and light green tissue paper for the flower bouqet
  5. Floss for the bouquet's ribbon

Once your artwork is dry:

  1. Measure up each element that you plan to use directly against the artwork and cut to size. Be sure to buy extra lengths/pieces of elements in case your measurements are off and you make a mistake.

To make the bouquet:

  1. To make the bouquet, fold up to 6 pieces of square tissue paper in an accordion style until you have at lease 4 pointy rows (looking down at it). Use a 6 inch piece of floss and tie a knot in the middle of the accordion. Round off each end by cutting half circles. Fan out the tissue pieces on each side---and voila, a beautiful bouquet. In this wedding canvas art, I cut my tissue paper down to 2" x 2".

Step 3: Add the Elements

Glue, tape or nail on your elements.

  1. In this wedding 3d canvas art, after I cut out the bride's veil, I glued it on with photo mount glue. I figured since it's clear and lightweight it would not show through the sheer veil or the silk fabric of the gown too much. I did not spray directly onto the canvas, I sprayed onto a piece of scrap paper and then used a small wood coffee mixer to scoop up some glue and dabbed it directly on the spot on the canvas where the fabric would attach.

The Gown

  1. I first positioned the soft silk-like fabric just below the "V" on the back of my painted brides waist line and then measured down to where I would cut the fabric. I chose to let the fabric hang down past the canvas for the time being.
  2. Once I positioned the fabric to how I wanted it, I glued it on by placing a few spots of glue directly at her lower back by dabbing the spray glue on with the wood coffee mixer. Then I wrapped the foot of the gown around to the back of the canvas and then taped it into the hollow on the back of the frame using white duct tape. I thought wrapping the fabric under the canvas and around the back was a good way to avoid having to cut the dress directly at the bottom of the canvas---which would appear unsightly if it wasn't actually hemmed! I had no idea how it would look, but, in the end, it turned out quite beautiful!

Step 4: Make a Fabric Backboard to Hide Stuff

Add more pizzazz to your beautiful canvas 3d art by mounting it onto a fabric backboard.

What you will need:

  • Wood or MDF board
  • Fabric
  • Staple Gun
  • Screw Driver
  • 2 screws about and 1 1/2 inches
  • Drill
  • Masking Tape

How I made the backboard for my Wedding 3D Canvas Art:

  1. I decided that I wanted my Wedding 3D Canvas Art to be mounted on a backboard that was at least three inches wider than my canvas on all four sides. Once I decided on the dimensions of my backboard, I went to my local big box store and ordered a piece of wood cut to size.
  2. I bought fabric that I thought would compliment the look and style of my work of art to wrap the backboard in.
  3. I folded the fabric, which was about 3/4 of a yard wide along the top and bottom of the backboard and used a staple gun to staple the fabric onto the board, on both top and bottom. I then folded the fabric left and over the top and bottom that was already stapled and then folded the remaining right side over the left fold and stapled everything down.
  4. Once my fabric was wrapped and nailed onto the backboard, I placed my canvas onto the newly fabric wrapped backboard and used a piece of masking tape to mark exactly how far down on the backboard I wanted the canvas to sit. I then cut two tiny holes into the fabric exactly where I wanted to put the screws (about 1 and 1/2 inches below the bottom of the taped line) and screwed in the screws.
  5. All said and done, I then mounted or "hung" the canvas directly over and onto the screws. It was a perfect fit.

Additional Optional Hide-Away Feature:

What you need:

  • 2 flat head thumb tacks
  • Clear plastic/vinyl pencil case or any container that fits behind your canvas.
  1. Place two thumb tacks inside a clear pencil case and tack to the fabric backboard.
  2. Voila--now you can hide cards, notes or yes---even money behind your canvas!

Step 5: Mount and Display

You can use a fancy picture stand to display your 3D Canvas Art Work or add picture frame screws and wires to the back of your backboard to mount onto a wall.