Make these Charming DIY Vintage Art Prints

I’ve been wanting to add a gallery wall in the lounge since we renovated the living room over Christmas. As usual, I did not want to pay a bomb for Vintage art, so I began to search around for a way to make a gallery wall that is bespoke, can be added to, and is something a little more unique than just a bunch of floral paintings on the wall. That’s when I came across a method of printing art (or any image) onto pieces of wood. So of course, I wanted to try this out. These DIY vintage art prints are just adorable and now I’ve mastered the small version, I’m going to make a lot more in all sizes for my gallery wall.

Printing on wood can be done a number of ways but the process is basically the same. You paint some kind of medium onto the wood for the image to adhere to and put a photocopy over the top. The ink is not transferred but the paper seperates in layers to the point it looks as if the picture is painted on the wood. It’s very rustic and oh, so vintage! Here’s how I did it and what I used.

Supplies to make a DIY Vintage Art Print

• thin plywood (mine is 2mm)
• a medium for the image to adhere to: Mod Podge, matt clear varnish or Artist’s Medium
• a paint brush
• a photocopy on normal copy paper of your chosen image

How to Make DIY Vintage Art Prints on Wood

To make the prints, first select and choose your images. There are so many you can find for free. Unslpash has quite a range and you can donate to pay a small fee if you like.

To make a piece the same size as mine you need a 5×7 download with a good quality image. The finished product will be around 15 x13 cm. If you are going to make a gallery wall, try to choose images that have similar colours or tones so that they coordinate.

Brush a thin layer of your chosen medium onto the plywood.

Lay the image on top and smooth it out. It is very important to get all the air bubbles out. If you have aribubbles there will be missing parts of your painting in that spot.

Once the image is smoothed leave it to dry for the required time.

When the paper is dry spritz it with water and wet. Then peel off the paper. There will be a thin layer of paper left. Rub this gently with a cloth or your finger, rewetting as needed. You need to remove as much paper as you can, leaving the image behind. If you rub too hard the entire image will be removed from the wood.

Once you are satisfied, leave the wood to dry completely.

To complete, seal with 2 coats of matt varnish.

HOW EASY IS THAT?!