Make Your Own Canvas Backdrop on a Budget

Hand-painted canvas backdrops are a thing of beauty, it is another form of art in itself. With that, there are many canvas backdrops out there that are not very budget-friendly. If you have the time and space, here's how you can make your own.

This isn't a quick project so make sure you have plenty of time carved out in your schedule, a few hours at a minimum. Also depending on how large of a backdrop you plan on making, make sure you have plenty of space for that size to be laid down. 

In this video from photographer Brandi Nicole, she shares her process of painting a canvas backdrop. She gives a recommendation of which type of backdrop she has found that works best and a few tips from creating several of her own backdrops. 

While you can definitely use the same tools she used to give the backdrop texture, you can experiment with different types of sponges and rollers. You might want to experiment on a smaller surface to ensure you like the pattern before applying it to a large backdrop. 

Have you created your own backdrops? It's on my list of to-dos but I haven't made my own yet. What have you found that works best? Let us know in the comments and share your results!

Alex Ventura's picture

Staff writer Alex Ventura is a professional photographer based out of the Houston area that specializes in automotive and glamour with the occasional adventures into other genres. He regularly covers automotive related events for Houston Streets & Spekture with some publications in the United States.

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11 Comments

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Great. But at the very least give this a read http://vukelichphoto.com/blog/2015/11/30/how-to-make-an-oliphant-style-c...

He at least acknowledges how difficult it is to do *well*

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Thank you so much Jeff! I hope drop painting goes well for you!!! :D

Am I the only one who has noticed that Brandi Nicole does not know how to spell "photography"?

You're such a treasure.

LOL wow. that is actually amazing. I cannot believe i never noticed this till now XD

Way too reductive of an explanation — and it's interesting that the author spends the time making the drop only to colour grade the photos so it doesn't look like what was created.

To do this properly — as in to make something really worth the effort — takes much more time and painting knowledge.

In short — it's damned hard to do well. This video doesn't even scratch the surface, pun intended. YMMV.

I'm sorry you feel this way! I tried to be as succinct as possible as many videos on this topic go more in depth. I've made a few drops at this point and certainly have experience and pointers to share that seemed to be helpful for many people that have now successfully made their own! It's definitely a big challenging task; as I mentioned in the video, but all in all is just a fun and cheaper alternative to buying one

Ahhhhhh!! Thank you Alex for writing this and sharing my video :D I've only just noticed you wrote this after some new traffic came to that video! Means a lot; Super appreciate it <3

Happy too, and glad it helped.