My family has many different religious statues, icons and images in our home but we were lacking one of the Sacred Heart. I’d never specifically gone looking for one, and most of the images we have are a collection that has accumulated over the years simply out of happenstance. Perhaps the Lord has helped to orchestrate it that way? I’m not sure! But I thought that it might be nice to have an image of His Sacred Heart.
What follows are instructions on how to paint your own Sacred Heart that requires little to no artistic ability, and is easy enough for kids as well.
Supplies:
Acrylic paints in the following colors
- Gold
- Yellow
- Red
- Brown
- Black
- (Optional Acrylic Clear Coat Spray)
You also need a canvas. I chose a very small one, but you could use any size you like!
Brushes– One wide brush for the background, a round tipped medium size, and a thin tip for the details.
Start by covering your canvas in a layer of black for the background. Make sure that you cover all the white, and you can use a blow dryer to dry between layers. I highly recommend this so that you can do the painting in a very short time frame!
Next, put a nickel-sized puddle of gold paint in the middle of your canvas and using your round brush draw the paint outwards from the middle in even strokes to imitate light shining from within. Again, let the paint dry or dry it with a dryer.
Now you will add in the base for your heart. Using a dime-sized puddle of red paint, gently use your round-tipped brush to form a heart.
You can add more paint to make it thicker and less transparent so that it has an illusion of floating over the gold. 
Let it dry once again. Next, using some of your brown and black paint you are going to add in the crown of thorns. This is done using the thin brush and making small curved X’s, layering the brown and black to give the illusion of layers of thorns and shadow. At this point, paint in the wound and add drops of blood. I darkened some of the red paint with some brown to use to paint the blood droplets. 
Next, we’re going to add in the fire from the top of the heart. This is super simple! Collect a droplet of yellow paint on the tip of your thin brush and set it gently at the top of the heart. Clean your brush, and then collect a smaller droplet of red paint and set it on top of the still-wet yellow droplet. See next picture. 
Then, using the cleaned brush tip, or a pin or other very thinly-tipped tool, drag the red paint gently through the yellow to form flame shapes being careful not to mix them too much. This gives the impression of multi-colored flames of fire. 
At this point, you can call your painting done if you are happy with how it looks! If you are a bit artsier, you can darken some more red paint and add in some shading to your heart. Or leave it simply the way it is. If you are up to putting a clear coat on your art piece, I would let it dry at least overnight before spraying it and then give it a good 24 hours before framing it in your choice of frame. For my piece, I chose to use some tin and a hole punch to make a frame in the Mexican folk art style, but you could choose a premade frame in as ornate or simple as style as you like.
I hope you enjoy making your own special art piece, and that it blesses your home!
O most holy heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing, I adore you, I love you, and with lively sorrow for my sins I offer you this poor heart of mine. Make me humble, patient, pure and wholly obedient to your will. Grant, Good Jesus, that I may live in you and for you. Protect me in the midst of danger. Comfort me in my afflictions. Give me health of body, assistance in my temporal needs, your blessing on all that I do, and the grace of a holy death. Amen.
