Misty Forest Oval

Very nice. Interesting that you used a light coloured border on this one. If you have trouble getting the contact paper to stick, once its in place run a hairdryer over it, it should help. Cutting it neatly would be the first hurdle for me, It think I would probably choose a border colour close to the picture colour so any imperfections in the cutting of the shape are not noticeable. You've done a cracking job though and you've inspired me to try my first oval too.

Ah, a hair dryer! Brilliant tip, thank you. I will do that on my next oval, for sure. Peeling back the contact paper is really pretty thrilling. I'm looking forward to seeing your first oval!

The hair dryer trick is some good advice. I've also had trouble making my contact paper stick. It always bubbles out in places and just doesn't seem to want to stick well, so I always have to be mindful to paint inwards and never use brush strokes that go towards the edges. Every painting I've done using contact paper has some kind of small splotch of color that snuck under the edges (see my paintings for examples!)

Amazing painting, by the way!

Contact paper is very similar to what I've used in the past decorating dolls houses. For that I smooth it out using an old credit card and burnish it down quite firmly then go over it with the hairdryer. I hesitate to put that kind of pressure on a canvas. I wouldn't worry too much about bubbles as long as there is good contact around the edge of the oval it should be ok. What are you using to clean up any spoiled edges? Some people use a baby wipe. I don't know if it works, I guess I will find out soon enough.

I wish blue painter's tape came in 18-inch rolls. I think that would be a great material for cutting out ovals and adhering them easily to the canvas.

I absolutely love what you've been able to achieve in this painting. It's really, really lovely! I actually wish it were bigger so I felt like I could step into it haha. (Scootermate_taits mum)