Duct Tape Pop Art Portrait: Elvis

This pop art portrait of Elvis is fun and colourful.

Step 1: Watch the Video

If you missed the video yesterday, watch it now to see the portrait constructed before your very eyes.

Step 2: Inspiration

Unfortunately I just missed the deadline for the Remix contest! I got my inspiration to do this pop art portrait of Elvis from a website called Artyfactory that not only provides free instruction on how to create a portrait, but also provides free designs to try out. I encourage you to visit the site; you too will be inspired!

Pictured is a selection of just a few of the art samples on their site. I decided to do the Elvis portrait.

Step 3: More Inspiration!

I also got further inspiration from a project I saw on Instructables: Craft Within Reach's pop art portrait done with duct tape of all things.

Duct tape is such an interesting choice because it comes in so many colours and patterns; I think it's the perfect medium to create pop art (and it gives me an opportunity to enter this year's duct tape contest and build on Craft Within Reach's Instructable from 2015)!

Step 4: Let's Get Started!

Start off with the template pictured from Artyfactory.

Step 5: Gather Your Materials and Print a Template

Here's a full list of what you'll need:

• Backing: you could use canvas, but I had a piece of thin plastic that was ideal because it allowed me to peel up any 'mistakes'.
• Regular printer paper
• Colour printer
• Painters tape
• Scissors
• Waxed paper or glossy backing from labels etc.

I enlarged the template to a full sheet of paper - 8 1/2" x 11" and I printed out two copies of it.

I used one copy as a pattern and the other as a template. Painters tape keeps the cut pieces organized as they are cut out.

Step 6: Determine Your Colours

You really can't go wrong with the colour selection as long as you mix it up well; writing out a list will help keep it all straight!

Step 7: Mark a Grid on Your Backing

I started by marking out my squares on the plastic backing.

I actually mis-measured the first time and made all my squares too small! I didn't discover that until I was done, but all I did was flip over the plastic and start the background all over again. Like Elvis once said, 'when things go wrong, don't go with them'. In this instance, I tend to just say 'craft and learn'! It's the only way to perfect your technique.

Step 8: Cut the Background Pieces

I rolled out a piece of duct tape for the first background colour onto my glossy backing and cut it with scissors. Then I measured my square and cut it out. Because I initially made the square too small, I ended up having to overlap the duct tape to get a larger sized square.

Step 9: Assemble the Background

Once I had all my background colours cut, I placed them onto each square - referring back to my list.

Step 10: Cut the Template and Organize the Pieces

Once the background was fully covered by the squares, I cut up my paper template one square at a time to construct the face.

Once all the face pieces were cut and placed on the freezer paper, I worked square-by-square to transfer the pieces onto the background.

Step 11: Transfer the Pieces

That's the beauty of having squares; it makes it very easy to line up the pieces! It probably didn't take me any more than 20 minutes or so to transfer everything onto the background.

Step 12: A Little Less Conversation and a Little More Action Will Get You This Cool Portrait of Elvis!

Once everything was stuck down, I trimmed my backing to size and faster than Elvis could leave the building, I was done!