Sunset Silhouette DIY Painted Phone Case

You really don't need to be an amazing artist to paint this - it's pretty simple and if you scroll down there are detailed photo instructions.

It took me about 1 hour to do mine - which i did while listening to an audio book! :D

It looks great finished and the feel is smooth and you can personalize this with any silhouette and colors you like!

For a sunset - use reds and oranges, browns, yellows, and even a slight tint of light green.

For moonlight - use purples and dark blues instead of reds, medium blues instead of oranges, and white.

Supplies

What You'll Need:

computer
printer
exacto knife or small scissors
acrylic paints
paint brushes - small and medium
paint pallet or scrap paper
water
gloss varnish spray paint (1 can cost about $6)
phone case

Step 1: Print Out Your Silhouette.

Just search google images for "________ (galloping horse) silhouette", right click, then click "open image in new tab" then right click again on the image in the new tab, and click "copy".

Then open a blank Word Document or Publisher or whatever program you can print from and right click and choose "paste". Make your image smaller by clicking on it and dragging the corner. I pasted in 3 and made them slightly different sizes, so i could pick the one that fit best. - I used the smallest one.

TIP: You're probably going to want it smaller than you think you do. So print 3 with one that looks too small and then 2 a bit bigger.

Silhouette Search Ideas:

galloping horse - unicorn - pegasus
animal running
african animal
wolf howling
family
dancer
airplane
bicycle
heart hands
hot air balloons
swing set
sailboat
handstand
cactus
yoga
dolphin
umbrella
city
bridge
boy and dog
surfer

Step 2: Start Painting

Lay a scap piece of paper under your phone case and get out your paints and set up a cup of water for rinsing.

First take a swipe of green just in the left corner and one in the middle - just one swoosh, not a lot of paint.

Step 3: Blend Corner Test

Now take a tiny bit of black and paint along the edge of that corner bringing the brush in towards the green so it blends in over the green.

Step 4: Add the Darker Edge Background Color.

So take your dark red (or purple or dark blue) and go along the edges of the case, brushing inwards from th sides - so you want your brush strokes to be the same direction - as in not both up and down and side to side - only side to side. And add two random dashes in the middle.

Step 5: Blend the Next Color in Line.

The next color after red would be an orange color. Or if your'e using blues then a lighter blue or purple. Anyways - you get the idea. Do the same brushstrokes with the orange color, a little more inward, and blend it in with the edges of the red.

Step 6: Blend in the Middle Background Color.

For the middle use yellow (for the warm hues) - or white or turquoise blue for cold hues.

Step 7: Add More Middle Color - Make It Brighter.

Partly because I had a dark case, I needed to add more paint to make it show more. Just add more until you get the color and brightness you want. I was having trouble blending it and keeping the brightness - so if you are too - here's what i did: Put on dabs of paint - then take a new dry soft brush and swipe back and forth.

Step 8: Add Black Highlights on the Edges.

(I did this before i figured out how to blend the yellow middle - but the order doesn't matter)

Take some black (I also used a mix of black and red) - not a lot (you can dip in the black paint then rub some off on a scrap paper) - on your brush and blend it around the edges all the way around - just like you did for that one corner.

Step 9: Dab Blend on the Middle.

Back to the yellow/prange colors - Just with a tiny bit of paint dab the orange - short fast stab dabs - into the red and the yellow, in between. Then dab yellow edges into that orange. So it all looks dab blended together. I also dabbed some white into the very middle of the yellow to make it brighter in the middle.

Step 10: The Sun (or Moon).

With a white - get more paint on the brush this time - paint a circle slightly off centre. Think about your silhouette - depending on what it is, make the sun/moon the size you want. Then with the same color dap out over the top of the sun and dab underneath it.

For instance, mine was a galloping horse in the distance - so smaller sun.

If yours is a howling wolf - you might want a bigger moon.

Step 11: Touch Ups.

I touched up the camera hole part with black paint because I accidentally got some yellow on it.

Step 12: Let Dry.

Let that dry for 5 minutes - say hi to the guinea pig...

Step 13: Cut Out Your Silhouette.

(Sorry about the upside - down photo)

Cut out your silhouette carefully with an exacto knife or small scissors. Using scissors is probably harder - but i don't have an exacto knife so i used scissors. What you want is a hole is your paper the shape of your silhouette. - like the first photo.

Step 14: Add the Horizon.

Dip in black paint and start dabbing a thin horizon line - it doesn't have to be exactly straight. You can do it directly under the sun to make it look like it's just going down on the horizon line - or put the line lower so it's like the sun just started to go down.

If it's a moon then the moon would be at midnight (lower horizon line) or just going down/coming up (on the horizon line)

Step 15: Add in the Silhouette.

Place your cutout on the horizon line and hold it down, press it down a little.

Dab black paint over the cutout. Then slowly peel it off - this part is so fun ;p

Step 16: Get Rid of Excess Paint.

Press down the painted side of the cutout onto a scrap paper to get the extra paint off. Do it until when you lift it up no more paint comes onto the paper. Now it's clean and won't mess up your painting.

Step 17: Add the Reflection.

It looks good already - this part is optional. It really depends what silhouette you're doing. I think the reflection looks great with a silhouette like this one - or a running animal or boat or airplane.

Put the cut out upside down - this time opposite side (so the side you haven't dabbed paint on) up. Then do the pressing, holding, dabbing and slowly peeling up.

Awesome.

Step 18: Let Dry and Spray.

Let the paint dry while you set up a spray safe area - with newspapers underneath.

Shake your spray and spray back and forth over the whole phone case. I did this 3 times - don't want the paint to chip off so you want a good seal. DO NOT TOUCH IT. It's kinda tempting but don't do it. Just let it dry COMPLETELY - Don't think - it looks dry let me test it - you'll ruin the paint. So leave it for like and hour first.