Sawdust Art Project

My grandpa used to create artwork with the sawdust left over from his wooden projects.  How cool is that?  I decided I wanted to make my own piece of art using his same technique with a pet portrait.  Winston was the perfect choice because his face has so much color and character.

To give you some background, my grandpa was an amazing wood turner and made beautiful wooden bowls and vases.  He would then save the sawdust and create art on canvas with the different colors.  He passed away a few years ago, but still had shelves full of "organized" sawdust.  I knew right away I wanted to do something special with what was left.

My grandpa created mountains and interesting shapes with the sawdust, as shown below.

For my own piece, I started out with a simple sketch of Winston's face on canvas.  I made shapes for each "color" area so I would know where to apply what shade of sawdust where.

I used Aleene's Matte Decoupage glue because it's super easy to apply and holds the sawdust well.  I applied glue to one section at a time sprinkling on the sawdust as I went.

But then I decided the sawdust looked better blended and I started overlapping a lot of the colors.  After it dried, I used Tulip black and white puffy paints to add features to the eyes and nose area.  

I'm so happy with how this project turned out!  It's sentimental and unique.  I love that I was able to use sawdust from my grandpa's collection.

And here's Sebastian posing with my masterpiece.

XOXOXO,

Erika and Sebastian