Last year, I made a black and white and gold world map for my office with an engineering print.
Of course, that map is still hanging at the other house, while we live in a house with miles of bare walls.
Which meant an excuse to get another engineering print and do another world map.
This time, though, I knew I wanted to do something a little different and we were in desperate need of some color in our living room.
So instead of printing off the map, decorating it a bit, and then hanging it up, this time I used my engineering print as a stencil, painted the map in bright colors onto a canvas, and voila! Now the wall above our couch isn’t a sad sea of loneliness.
Also, when you’re buying a 36×48 inch canvas at the store and putting it in your trunk, it seems ENORMOUS. And then you hang it on the wall and it seems pretty average size.
what you need to make a watercolor world map
- Engineering print of the world (I used this image and printed off the 36×48 size, but you could, obviously, do a smaller size)
- Canvas of the same size as your engineering print (I bought mine at Michael’s for $25)
- Painter’s Tape
- A large piece of cardboard
- A sharp craft knife
- Spouncer Stencil Brushes (the cheapest ones I found were at JoAnn Fabrics)
- Acrylic paints (I used three shades of blue, two shades of green, yellow, orange, red, two shades of pink, and purple)
Tape your engineering print to a large piece of cardboard and carefully cut out the black parts to make a stencil (in a few cases, like the Mediterranean sea separating Africa and Europe, make sure to save the piece you cut out so you can use it when you paint).
Once you’ve cut out the stencil, carefully tape it on to your canvas (I just taped it in the four corners).
Now the fun part! Using your brushes, paint in the colors (I used this map as a general guide for the colors). Make sure to use an up and down sponging motion so your edges stay clean and the paint doesn’t bleed under the stencil.
Once you’ve finished, carefully remove the paper and discard (don’t let it dry overnight or anything – by the time I finished in Asia, the paint from North America was already dry enough that I had to be pretty careful removing the stencil on that side since it was starting to stick to the canvas).
Let it dry completely, then hang it up and enjoy!
Mimsie says
Brilliant!
Jennifer Lee says
Looks great!
Betsy says
This is awesome!!!
Ruth Maldonado says
That is awesome! Adds so much color and takes up a lot of space on a large wall! Very cute!
Meghan says
I love this!
Feisty Harriet says
So pretty! I love this.
xox
Jones says
What a great idea and it is so attractive. Nice to put it on canvas. Now you can take it with you!
Vanessa • Little Gold Pixel says
Very impressive!
Allie @ Everyday Adventures says
Love the colors you chose!
Pienkel says
Awesome! Would be fun (yet tiny to cut out I'm afraid) on a shirt as well…
The Little Day Dreamer says
That's a brilliant idea! thanks for sharing.
Shelly says
Looks wonderful! I'd like to do something similar for my house, just have to find the motivation for the stencil cutting out step.
Alysa Stewart says
So beautiful! I love it! I think I like it even better than the black and gold one. But girlfriend, it's not watercolor! You did it with acrylics! My inner artiste is raising one eyebrow. Still my fave project you've done, even if I disagree with the title.