I have been playing with the idea of creating a gallery wall out of vintage architectural drawings. My dilemma, where to find old architectural drawings...inexpensively.
The other night I found a solution....Wikimedia Commons. Have you heard of it? It is a "media file repository." In other words, it makes available public domain and freely-licensed content available to everyone. It is free to use and copy the content available on the site.
I know what you're thinking...what does this have to do with a gallery wall of vintage architectural drawings? It has an enormous resource of copyright free images available for download and use. Not only vintage architectural drawings, but also advertisements,botanicals , work of famous artists. Many of the images are public domain because their copyrights have expired. However, read the permission file at the bottom of the image, some are still copyrighted, but allow use with attribution.
I am still in planning stages, but I downloaded some drawings and have been playing around in olioboard and photoshop to get some ideas.
Check them out:
I wanted to try them against a light back ground and a dark. Potentially I would use this wall in our dining room (gray walls) or our hallway (cream walls).
What do you think? Do you like the images against the lighter or darker background? Have you used images from a public domain site before? If so, how did you print them (standard printer)?
I am still in the very early planning phases. I would love to hear what you have to say...suggestions, feedback...I'll keep you posted.
PS: I'm being featured over at DIY Showoff today! Roeshel is featuring our house before and afters. Head over and check us out.
The other night I found a solution....Wikimedia Commons. Have you heard of it? It is a "media file repository." In other words, it makes available public domain and freely-licensed content available to everyone. It is free to use and copy the content available on the site.
I know what you're thinking...what does this have to do with a gallery wall of vintage architectural drawings? It has an enormous resource of copyright free images available for download and use. Not only vintage architectural drawings, but also advertisements,botanicals , work of famous artists. Many of the images are public domain because their copyrights have expired. However, read the permission file at the bottom of the image, some are still copyrighted, but allow use with attribution.
I am still in planning stages, but I downloaded some drawings and have been playing around in olioboard and photoshop to get some ideas.
Check them out:
I wanted to try them against a light back ground and a dark. Potentially I would use this wall in our dining room (gray walls) or our hallway (cream walls).
What do you think? Do you like the images against the lighter or darker background? Have you used images from a public domain site before? If so, how did you print them (standard printer)?
I am still in the very early planning phases. I would love to hear what you have to say...suggestions, feedback...I'll keep you posted.
PS: I'm being featured over at DIY Showoff today! Roeshel is featuring our house before and afters. Head over and check us out.
