Silhouette Knockoffs

When I bought the shelves for the living room last Friday, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to go on them. One must was a Westie silhouette picture – to embrace my black and white theme to the fullest.

Fast forward to today, and I noticed one on OKL's vendors is selling this:

Compare that to what I made in about 5 minutes for free:

Sure mine isn't a silk screen, but I'm pretty sure that I still win. :)

What I did for free art:
1. Searched Google images for Westie silhouette images
2. Put the file into Illustrator
3. Do a "live trace" – this also allows you to alter the image to your liking and expand it to any size necessary without distorting the image.
4. Then I added a 1-point border around the image
5. Printed it out on a standard inkjet printer
6. Then I put it in a black frame I wasn't using

And yes, if you hadn't already noticed from my bedroom – I really like silhouettes and I really like my Westies.
How I made silhouettes on canvases for the price of the canvas:
1. Searched Google images for Westie silhouette images
2. Put the file into Illustrator
3. Do a live trace (If you do not have Illustrator, just find an image of whatever you are going to silhouette the size you need it to be – it doesn't have to be exact)
4. Print it out and cut out the image
5. Trace the image onto a thicker piece of cardstock
6. Once the image is traced, this is where you can alter the image (I altered my image to look more like my dogs)
7. Cut out the cardstock image
8. Paint the canvas(es) the desired color
9. Trace the cardstock image onto the canvas and then paint it
10. If you want a border, use painters tape