Tuesday, December 27, 2011

On Board the PB Knock Off Train

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Christmas Day may be over now, but remember the spirit of Christmas can carry on!  My goal from now and into the New Year is to enjoy everyday life much more; to be happier and joyful in the midst of it all. I pray the same for all of you as this next week charges down the tracks straight into the 2012 New Year.

Now please pardon my lame train track metaphor as I share with you my knock off attempt of the PB locomotive wall decal.  I spent the most part of December painting this in bits and pieces between many other projects.

[post updated 3/8/12] added photo of painted train back to post!  I still don't know why they disappeared!





My inspiration came from the PB Kids Halloween 2011 issue.  I immediately thought of my parents and their love of all things rustic (trains, deer, browns & blues) and said to myself, "you can do that!".


View In Room
{image via Pottery Barn Kids 2011 - No longer available product}

So I pulled out my humongo roll of painters canvas and a pencil and got straight to work.  Hand sketching the image as closely as possible to the white canvas.

It is hard to see, but the image was roughly sketched onto the canvas above.

The image was then filled in loosely with watered down blue acrylic paint.


Layers and layers of different shades of blue were added to create depth shading to the locomotive.  White, grey and silver were added in layers for some highlights and more dimension.  Honestly, it was bugging me to end that my little headlight was not 'right'.  I am my own worst critic as my family insisted it was 'fine'... 'fine' was not what I was going for unfortunately!  BUT, that is what is so great about paint... you can adjust and paint over til you get it almost right.


The brown background was added after the locomotive details were complete.  The train number was added along with some detailed bolt work on the face of the train.  The light looks more centered in the next photo from the retouch I made. (you can see the catalog used for reference in above photo)


The white steam and tunnel opening details were added.
To finish the painting, a rustic frame was constructed (thanks to dear hubby) from some wood and painted with the same brown paint as the background.


The perfectionist in me knows full well that some of my angles are a bit off, but all in all I am pleased with the way it turned out.  The best part is that the whole thing cost me under $5 to duplicate as all the supplies were on hand except the wood framing!  Thanks for the inspiration PB but you can keep your $99 price tag!



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17 comments:

WhyCuzICan said...

THIS IS FREAKIN' AWESOME (yes, I was screaming!) Very nice job!!

Sakes alive!

Smiles from your Follower,
Suzanne in NW IL

Unknown said...

Wow!! That is amazing! I am totally impressed.

scrapfancy said...

WOW! Very impressed. Great job!!!

Ruby Jean said...

WOW!!! seems to be the word.. that's amazing... you did a great job... I have a linky party that I would love to invite you to.. http://shoprubyjean.com/2011/12/sew-crafty-tuesday-linky-3-and-features/

Anonymous said...

That is AWESOME!!! Wish I can paint like that! Thanks for sharing:D

Andie Jaye said...

that is so amazing! you are so talented my dearest!

Jen Lossing, Artistic Abode Designs said...

This is great. You are a wonderful artist. My sons loves trains right now. He saw this and said "Choo Choo!" Love it!

Anonymous said...

Oh wow! That is beautiful! You are so very talented and it looks perfect to me!

We are our worst critic... I know this first hand. Every project that I do just doesn't seem quite good enough. But, the hubster tells me they look fine. LOL

Your paintings are awesome!

~Angela
The Not So Functional Housewife

Jami said...

Better than the original! Great job! So happy to have you link up to the Tuesday To Do Party at The Blackberry Vine!
Happy New Year!
Smiles!
Jami
www.blackberryvine.blogspot.com

Rebecca Scott (aka Otter) said...

I love this! You did an amazing job! It's so nice to be able to recreate our own art, isn't it? Not only will this piece mean more to you because you painted it yourself, but you didn't have to pay $100 for a mass produced item. :)

Unknown said...

Kim this is so awesome! I left a comment on Knock Off Decor, but not sure if you'll get it.

Your angles are just fine. I know what you mean though. It's hard to look at paintings when they're "finished" cuz we always see things we could fix, right? But you nailed this train!

Hey - where do you get your roll of canvas? Online? I get mine from Michael's with a 40% coupon, but if there's something cheaper, I'm there!

Have a wonderful New Year!

Tara @ Tales of a Trophy Wife said...

I think yours is way better than PB. b/c you made it. Hand painted beats mass produced any day.

Linda Leyble said...

That's wonderful - I think it looks great. You don't ahve to make it 100% perfect...because the sweat and love and time that went into it are the most important things - worth more than a mere $99. I remember when I gave my mother a embroidered pillow for Christmas one year and it took me nearly a month or more to do. She loved it so much and she kept it on her chair that she used every day. So - it wasn't something put away and forgotten.

Lovely post - will look forward to more!

Linda

marissa | Rae Gun Ramblings said...

that turned out great! I'd love you to add this (and any other posts you like) to my What We Wore and Made Party over at http://raegunwear.blogspot.com/search/label/WWWMW

Little City Farm said...

I can hardly believe that you were able to create such a gorgeous piece of art for under $5. Wow, you are truly talented. Pottery Barn is going to end up knocking on your door, lol.

Thanks so much for linking up to our Link It Up Thursday party.

Little City Farm said...

Wanted to let you know that you were featured at our LInk It Up Thursday party - come on over if you'd like to grab a featured button. :)

http://thesepeastastefunny.blogspot.com/2012/01/link-it-up-thursday-2.html

G Inspires said...

This is awesome! WOW! Thanks for sharing, visiting via Make the Scene Monday

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