Decoupage - a master class. Decoupage technique for beginners

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

Having a DIY hobby for girls and women in our time has become not so much fashionable as necessary: the activity provides an opportunity to relax, develops female energy, and even helps to earn money! One of the directions in the vast world of hand-made is decoupage. You can visit a master class in this direction in many places, but you can save money by learning to transform things yourself.

Decoupage. What is it, where is it from, what is it for?

The word "decoupage" itself is a French verb for "cut" (feel the Provencal accent when you say it: decoupage). Now this is a whole fashionable direction for decorating, decorating or decorating objects with beautiful pictures and applications. Lacquered after pasting the beauties cut out of paper, things and surfaces are transformed so that their aesthetic value increases by an order of magnitude.

Despite the foreign roots of the name of this technique, the very method of decoration was born in the east of Siberia, after which it migrated to China, where, picking up a fashion trend, they began to decorate furniture and decorate gifts and postcards with their own hands. In the same place, they began to mass-produce blanks for decoupage - paper, colored parts.

Europe met with decoupage out of necessity: with great demand forfashionable then oriental furniture, local master cabinetmakers could not provide the entire volume of orders. Therefore, a whole line of production of fakes arose, which looked no worse than the original. Imitation of master painting, supposedly carefully written patterns - this became fashionable even among famous people of that time, up to Picasso and Madame de Pompadour.

Common techniques

The most popular ways of decorating have developed into separate directions, and even acquired their adherents. Each is good in its own way and each is suitable for a certain type of objects or surfaces: shabby chic and ethno, Provence and Simplicity, Victorian style and the most fashionable - 3D decoupage. A master class of one of the techniques will be given below.

Starting decoupage. Choosing a surface, selecting materials

Decorate and decorate almost anything that has a smooth surface and the right area for your picture. Of course, when you gain experience, you can try your hand at more complex forms of things. And for starters, notebook covers, postcards, furniture, clothes and shoes, vases, flower pots, candles, boxes, part of the walls, the back panel of the gadget are suitable.

The most common and, perhaps, the easiest material for decoration - it was and remains napkins. Thanks to the popularity of decoupage, bright, multi-colored, interesting in pattern and design napkins began to be specially produced. But you can use other paper products: photographs, newspapers, pictures from magazines, calendars, color printouts. Optim althere will be decoupage paper, decoupage cards and wrapping. For the black and white decoupage style, minimalistic but bright black printouts are suitable.

From additional materials you will need those that you probably already have at home: scissors, sponge, toothpicks, ruler, cotton swabs. Separately, you have to buy glue and acrylic paints, sandpaper and a hair dryer.

Hard in learning - beautiful in the end. Start and win

If the hands ask for some activity, and the mind says that it should be useful, then the decoupage technique for beginners is just right. For the first works, it is better to choose a thing that is not too valuable and memorable. Maybe try it on a regular plate first?

After the materials are prepared, the pictures are selected, and the surface of the future masterpiece is degreased, we proceed directly to the process of decorating using the decoupage technique. The master class has begun.

The most important thing is priming

If there is no special primer yet, you can use the simplest white acrylic paint. Then you have to wait until the surface dries, and then apply another 1-3 layers, depending on the surface. This may take several hours, as this first layer is very important. For the impatient, there is advice - use a hairdryer. The primer is not just an initial layer, it is a foundation and a base, and it should be as smooth as possible.

Preparing pictures

If this is a napkin (usually they have two or three layers) - then you need to remove the topmost thin layer - carefully,to keep the picture intact. If this is a printout or a picture from a magazine, then you need to carefully cut out the image with small scissors. It happens that for stylization and additional effect, the pictures are deliberately cut out not quite neatly or separate pieces are pulled out along the edge - for this, a wet brush is suitable, which is drawn along the contour of the picture.

So, the primer is dry and the surface is perfect for gluing. Now the picture can be pasted. Craftswomen professionally engaged in this use a special varnish or a transparent water-based acrylic gel. At the initial stage, you can use a composition that is more accessible in every sense - PVA glue diluted with water. The consistency of this mixture should be like that of liquid yogurt, and it must also be shaken before use to avoid heterogeneity, which will prevent an even application of an already fragile picture.

Glue a picture - this is the most difficult thing in decoupage, because it must be done carefully so as not to tear or wrinkle the image. To fix the picture on the plane of the object, you can use a glue stick, having previously smeared the surface, and only then attach the picture. Another way is to put the image on the surface prepared with a primer, and only then, having applied glue exactly in the middle, carefully spread it over the rest of the drawing.

If you use diluted PVA, you will need a certain speed, because it dries pretty quickly. You can do this: dip the brush first in water,and then glue. Be careful not to create bubbles. If air cannot be avoided, then with a rubber roller or fingers, expel the bubbles from under the picture. Apply several coats of glue/varnish, using a hair dryer for speed. Excess glue flowing around the edges is best removed with a damp sponge or cloth.

So the picture is covered and the layers of varnish have dried. Now you need to bring the creation to mind. To make the subject look harmonious, you can add a shade to the background using acrylic paints. Try to apply the thinnest layer to avoid future cracking. If you want to show the world a supposedly old thing, then use special compositions. For example, our decoupage plate, the photo of which is shown below, is additionally covered with a layer of craquelure varnish.

The more layers of varnish protect the surface, the better - professionals can cover their product with several dozen layers, but for beginners, 2 to 6 is fine.

Additional tools and materials

Masters who have reached heights in decoupage use many additional tools to give special effects to their products. This may be the previously mentioned craquelure varnish, various enamels, bitumen, facet varnish, resin - for "aging". For additional volume, structural bulk adhesives, gels, silicones are used. Wax paste, silver and gold, patina - the means of additional decor are countless!

Nuances

If you fell in love with decoupage, the master class was useful to you, and you would like to continuecreating unusual, original items, then read a few more tips:

• Varnish can also be found in a hardware store - parquet, acrylic, furniture.

• Choose your brushes carefully - they should not leave loose hairs and streaks on the surface.

• Items to be used in water will require waterproof varnish.

• To prevent the printed photocopy from bleeding, dilute the PVA and apply it to the picture in two layers.

• Magazine pictures are best kept in water or sprayed with water from above to remove the top thin layer.

• Don't use a dark background to prevent the picture from being "lost".

• When objects (vases, plates, glasses) made of dark glass are decorated, it is recommended to glue a white background under the picture, tinting it with white.

• Do not be afraid to experiment, because it is personal experience that helps to find new ideas and solutions that help to acquire your own style.

So, as our MK showed, decoupage is not such a complicated process, and through trials, experiments, with the help of inspiration and imagination, you can create a real masterpiece that will decorate your home, become a wonderful gift for friends or, perhaps, desired the acquisition of some connoisseur of beauty.