It’s only been about 6 months, but I can cross one thing off my pinterest bucket list.
“Make my own art for the house.”
Well, maybe I can only put a check mark next to item #1 on my list, because I want to do several more DIY art/canvas projects for the house. This was at least a start.
For this project, I really wanted something to fill this blank wall in my main living room. It’s where we spend most of our time and this wall has been bothering me with its blah-ness.
In this room, we have a gorgeous rug with colors that partly inspired my painting.
And a couch that has similar colors and inspired me.
So, armed with dimensions of the size of canvas I wanted, inspiration and a debit card, I headed to Hobby Lobby for supplies.
SUPPLIES:
- 24X36 canvas (I should’ve gone one size bigger!)
- 8/pack of paint colors
- 3/pack brushes
- paint tray
- matte finishing spray (I didn’t end up using; not sure it’s needed; cost $8 of the $52)
TOTAL: $52
Next: I put on a little John Mayer, Florence & the Machine, Lana Del Rey, Civil Wars, Band of Horses, etc. and found a blog post with helpful tips to guide me.
Now, time to mix my colors and do a trial run through my “design” … you’ll notice that the colors I ended up with really don’t match my inspiration fully. The yellow is too mustard. They’re a little too PRIMARY color-ish still. But, not bad for my first-ever painting.
Eventually, I just decided it was time to GO FOR IT! Time to paint the actual canvas.
Next, I touched it up with shadowing and highlights.
Done. BUT…I don’t love the colors. I think the combination of all these colors is fine, but in hindsight, I wish I’d just done three colors or something totally different haha. They’re just too … something. I’ll make it work for a few years maybe.
After letting it dry overnight, I hung it on the blank wall and decorated the new desk space I created to coordinate. You’ll see that I really should’ve bought a bigger canvas too.
IN THE END: It’s less blah-ness for sure, but def. not something that will hang there for years … that is … unless all our loyal blog followers comment below and tell me how amazing they think it is (hint, hint! haha). 🙂
mrs. and the misc. 
I love this! It looks awesome. Unfortunately, I don’t think mine would ever turn out that good!
I love it!
Y’all are too nice. And you could totally do it too. I have absolutely NO artistic talent and just did chunky and skinny lines until the canvas was covered, hehe
Oh! I like it , I think you should keep it! don’t remove it! 🙂
aw! thanks! It is growing on me with each additional comment and like, hehe!
Great Job! I think it looks awesome. 🙂
Michelle
I totally want to paint a cute piece of art like that too – it’s just a bit too intimidating for me at the moment! I think you did a great job!
looks great..
I think it looks like shit.
fair enough 🙂 lol
that was rude. how about choosing your words a little more carefully? “I don’t like it” gets your message across without being rude. how sad that you’ve learned to stomp all over other people’s efforts to step outside their box.
i congratulate you on being artistic. for your future wall projects you might consider stretching fabric over a canvas. its easy, fabric choices are endless, and you can change it out periodically, if you want.
LOVE this idea! Thanks so much!!! Sounds super easy too.
Woo-Hoo for You!! 😀
I’d say your first ever painting is a success on many levels, wouldn’t you!?
(My first ever forray into home-decor painting was on lampshades back in the early 90’s when “sponge painting” was the newest thing. I figured that if it didn’t turn out, I could just buy a couple new lampshades and no harm done! We lived with those for a decade lol)
You may find, over time, that it was smart not to put a sealer over it just yet. You said yourself, it needs a little something else… and as you live with it for a time… that “something else” will reveal itself to you.
You can just take this down… give it a gentle cleaning and add whatever flips your skirt to this masterpiece!
Kudos for having the courage and creativity to do this… and may there be MANY more!