Glitter Wild Cat Tote

I really wanted to paint denim, but since I've never worked on fabric before, I thought I should do a practice painting first.

I found a package of plain totes at Michael's and felt it would be a good place to start, but when I went to get fabric paints I was surprised to see how horrifically expensive they were! Beside the paints I really wanted sat a package of fabric spray paint, on sale. I wondered if a paint was thin enough to be sprayed through a pump like that, perhaps it could be used as a watercolor?

Needless to say, the project I went in to get supplies for was not the project I left prepared to do. I ended up quite happy with it though. After all, nothing says "I'm Fabulous" like a sparkly blue lion tote!

To make this glitter tote you will need:

Metallic fabric spray pain in assorted, blue and gold tones

Black and white acrylic paint

Extra fine glitter in gold and blue

A plain white tote

Stencils

Paint brushes

Spray the bag in several light layers of paint. I started with the gold tone.

Lay down a stencil of any design and spray a layer of a different color. The purpose of the stencil is to add a textured look to the paint, so it isn't just spray.

After several layers of alternating splatter/spray and stencil, dust the extra fine blue glitter over the entire front of the bag. The glitter will stick on the paint as it dries.

Free-hand paint the shape of a cat's face in the center of the bag.

Use the same shades of blue and gold to add shadow to the face.

Add gold glitter to the eyes.

Keep adding to the painting until you are satisfied with the cat. I decided on a leopard first, then changed my mind to a lion. I just kept adding paint until it started to look like something I could be happy with.

Add lots of water to the black acrylic to create more shadow in the mane. Some lines should be transparent, others should be opaque.

Finish with white acrylic as the highlight, under the eyes, the fur around the mouth, on the mane, and add some whiskers.