Michael Sue's Tips: Turn a Picture into an Oil Painting

How to turn a picture into an oil painting

1. Using a glue stick, mount a picture from a magazine, or a color copy of something else, onto watercolor paper.

2. Brush on two coats of "Modge Podge." Let dry.

3. With a small brush apply small amounts of art gel medium (found in the fine arts section of your favorite crafts store). Apply in little curved strokes (mimicking the full sized strokes of a real oil painting). It will take many coats to get a great look. Each coat must dry completely. It's much easier to do lots of pictures at the same time.

4. Once you have the look you're after, give  the project one light coat of "Modge Podge Gloss." Oil paintings have a gloss to them.

Here's my suggestion to make things easier: Find your frame first. it's much easier to make your picture fit your frame than the other way around!

Michael Sue's Tips: How to Shingle Your House

 How to Shingle Your House

I have had the honor of working with some very talented folks, so I'm giving credit where credit is due. Ben, the retired engineer who builds houses to shell stage for me, came up with this great way to apply shingles:

1. Make exact templates of the existing roof out of brown paper bags.

2. Apply your shingles with wood glue directly to the paper. (Remember, paper is made from wood and wood glue will form an excellent bond.) Be certain that you leave a "hang over" on the sides and the bottom edges (not the top). The really cool thing is that when it is all dry, you just flip the panel over and trim off any uneven edges, or make the angle cuts all at the same time. (Use a sharp X-ACTO blade and a cork back metal ruler or a jigsaw.) It's a perfect method. It's fast, you can work on it flat instead of vertically and you have a perfect fit.

3. Apply your shingled panels to the roof with wood glue or wallpaper paste (Yes! glue).

Now for John's part in this. John is my private student and I sometimes have him help with my projects to learn a new skill. I asked him to glue the panels onto the house and to weight them for a good bond (please see Sue's House on my web page). He used wallpaper paste and then  applied blue painters tape where he could. To this he attached weights to both ends of a wire and hung the wire over the roof ridge. Brilliant!

Now, tips from me:

1. Manufacturers tell you to dip your shingles in dye and let them dry on newspaper. Newspaper will wick a lot of the dye off. You may have to do this many times. I suggest that you brush your dye on your shingles after you have applied them to the roof. You'll only need to do it once. Much, much faster!

2. Remember to paint the underside of the eaves and the roof edges before you shingle, so there will be no chance of getting paint on your shingles. Take care to avoid getting glue on shingles, as glue won't accept dye.

3. Cheap weights can be made from fabric and fish tank gravel. Make small pillow cases from the fabric and fill with the gravel, sewing up the open end. These are a must for any workshop. Ready-made weights can be bought at diving gear shops.