Decorating our homes with artwork and antique frames is such a great way to tell a story and give our home personality. I love decorating with paintings and swapping them out for the seasons!
I especially love a beautiful landscape or still life painting, but original oil paintings are usually out of the budget. In this post, I’ll cover about how to make prints look like oil paintings!
Have you ever found a beautiful frame at a thrift shop but the art it came with wasn’t your favorite?! Me too! All the time! I’ve been collecting frames of all styles, shapes and sizes for years (despite the art that comes in them). After I find a great antique frame, I like to DIY my own art, and you can too! I’m going to show you how to make prints look like oil paintings in only a few minuets and while staying on a budget!
To create vintage looking artwork that resembles an original oil painting you’ll need these 5 things
- Antique Frame
- Digital Art Downloaded (ETSY)
- Printed Art on Canvas
- Mod Podge
- Crafting Paint Brushes (a pack with a few different size brushes)
3 Tips for Choosing Second Hand Frames (how to tell if it’s old/antique)
#1. The art is NOT always that important. Pay attention to the frames in thrift shops. Original artwork will be pricey and prints will most likely be priced and the value of just the frame.
I love antique frames! They’re kind of my weakness (frames & chairs). Just about every time I go thrifting, I want to bring home a frame (or two) that I love. Out of all the times I’ve purchased a frame, only once did I actually like the artwork in the frame. If I can find a great frame, I know I can create the artwork perfect for the frame!
#2. Look to see if the frame is an antique or a replica. There are a lot of pretty good replicas out there that have fooled me at first glance. When I pick them up I can tell quickly if it’s wood or some kind of plastic.
Replicas are fine, if you find one you love, go for it! But, if you’re looking for an antique, pay attention to details like craftsmanship. Look at the wood itself, the nails, hardware and any hand carvings. Pay attention to the back of the frame. Really old frames usually will have a wooden backboard (covered in paper).
#3. Oil Paintings are never framed behind glass. If you find a frame with glass, it could work if you remove the glass, depending on the depth of the frame. If a frame holds a print (on paper) it won’t need depth. To make our print look original, we need to print the art on canvas. Canvases are 3/4 inch. thick so a frame that is too shallow won’t work. Oil paintings need to “breathe” and if placed behind glass moisture could build up and damage the painting. Even though we are creating printed art, we want it to look as authentic as possible. So be sure to avoid using frames with glass over a printed canvas
Finding Vintage Inspired Art (Digital Downloads)
I love swapping my framed art out seasonally and downloading the art makes it super budget friendly! I chose a few downloads for spring summer by searching things like “landscapes”, “countryside”, “still life”, “floral” on Etsy. Honestly, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve printed art for my home.
You can see in the pictures above that these are printed on canvas and that really helps them look a lot more like original artwork.
Digital downloads run anywhere from $2 for a single image to $9 for a set of 12 images. Sometimes I find a set that I want 2 or 3 of the images. In that case, I’ll purchase the “Gallery Set” and only print the ones I love. Even if I won’t use them all, it’s still a really great deal.
Some of my favorite Etsy shops for printed art/digital downloads have been ChateauMichele, AtlasVintagePrints, and TheLostGalleryCo.
Printing Artwork On Canvas
If you want your artwork to look like an original, it cannot just be printed on paper. You must print it on canvas. This step is a MUST! The texture of a canvas is what really helps to make the print resemble a painting!
This countryside print is also on canvas and came with a slender wood frame. Adding texture to it transforms it.
My go-to place for printing on canvas is EasyCanvasPrints.com. I love that i can print any size to fit my antique frames. Once you log in, click “canvas”, and “canvas prints’ in the drop down. Simply enter the length and width in the boxes and it will generate a price quote for your choice. Then download your purchased digital art and it’s that simple!
Adding texture to make a print look like an original oil painting
The main thing original artwork, especially oil paintings, have is texture! Adding texture to the printed art is what makes it go from looking like a print on canvas to much more like an authentic oil painting.
Materials Needed:
- Your printed art on canvas
- Mod Podge I prefer to use “GLOSS” not Matte
- Crafting Paint Brushes
Brush Strokes
- Start off by applying a thick layer of Mod Podge over the entire canvas with a larger craft paint brush to start and let dry. I like to use a 1-2 inch brush for this if the print is kind of large.
- Go in with a smaller paintbrush using the Mod Podge as if it were paint. Try to mimic the strokes of the painting. If its a large rose, add thick amounts around the petals following the swooping motion of how the artist would have painted it.
- No need to add lots and lots. Simply start at one side of the painting, adding texture and move across the entire painting.
- The key is to add just enough texture to catch the eye. Light will reflect off the surface of the print and those raised (Mod Podge) brush strokes will stand out just enough to give it the appearance of an original oil painting!
- You can repeat as many layers as you’d like. Then, let it fully dry before framing it.
See how the light hits the brush strokes?! It gives it dimension and really brings it to life. Using “gloss” Mod Podge also helps it make prints look like paintings because of the sheen. Oil paintings are sealed with a varnish designed for oil paintings after the painting is dry (could take months or up to a year).
The varnish gives oil paintings a sheen very similar to the “gloss” Mod Podge. If you use “matte” you’d still get texture, just not the sheen. The light just wouldn’t reflect off the texture in the same way.
Bringing art we love into our homes on a budget
My mother, Jan Bower, is a phenomenal oil portrait artist and she’s instilled in me a great appreciation for fine art and lifelike oil paintings. I even have some of her original pieces hanging in our home. This one below is an original painting of my daughter as a young girl with a cousin in our barn. She also painted our wedding portrait and each painting we have of hers is absolutely priceless to us!
Other than these treasured paintings, most of my artwork is printed on canvas. I love budget friendly home decor so much since I love swapping out the artwork in my frames seasonally. It’s is a great way for me to get the look I want each season without investing in all original paintings.
New Frames that replicate antiques and frames for more Modern Artwork
This simple DIY project works for any style of artwork! I happen to prefer prints that have an “old world” charm about them. But, no matter your preference in art, this easy craft will work. Here are a few great options of beautiful frames if you don’t already have one at home that you love.
Not ever frame I use is ornate or antique. I love mixing in simple, sleek wooden frames as well.
- Black Floater Frame for Canvas
- Wood Grain Frame for Finished Canvases
- Solid Wood Canvas Frame,Oil Painting Ornate Frame
- Vintage Gold Frame for Canvas Paintings
- Antique Ornate Canvas Frame for Landscape Portrait
Consider trying to paint your own Landscape painting!
I recently started dabbling in landscape paintings. We live on 65 acres of rolling hills with views of a creek, meadows and trees. The sky is always changing and seems bigger here than anywhere we’ve ever lived.
The views inspire me daily and one day I decided to grab a few large canvases, some budget friendly paint brushes and acrylic paint. I sat down and painted the view that was in my mind and had a lot of fun just trying something new.
I had no idea how either one would turn out, but it was worth a shot. Both paintings I did are quite large and I love swapping them out in our living room. I think landscapes are one of the most forgiving things you could paint. Perfect for a beginner like me! I’ll definitely be carving out more time to paint in the future!
I hope you try this simple little project! If you do, be sure to leave a comment below and let me know what digital art print you chose and how it turned out! I’d love to know and be sure to check out THIS POST for my top 10 decorating ideas for Spring!
