Is it as simple as taking a paint brush and applying paint?

September 1, 2011 7:01 AM

DIYfilter: Making simple modern paintings as a novice artist?

I'm about to move into a new office at work! The problem is, the walls are very bare. I'm not a poster type of person. I'm not very good at "owning" the spaces I occupy. I'm very much a function before decoration type of person.

I am, most definitely, a bright and bold color person, though. The office-gray-beige walls are going to depress me. (I use to have a vase filled with fake crazy daisies at my old desk)

I originally planned to hang "curtains" on the back wall. I wanted to put up some simple brackets and a curtain rod and sew together some cheap fabric in different colors so I could have an interchangeable canvas. If I got tired of one set of colors, I could change them out for something new, etc etc.

Well I got a chance to see the space yesterday, and the back wall is long and it would be a hassle to manage that much fabric and to get the rod into the office.

My coworker suggested I could wrap fabric around poster board and hang that up. I don't like this idea very much.

If I'm going to worry about poster board, I might as well paint it! Except, well.. I'm a complete newbie when it comes to applying paint in a artistic sense.

I know shows like Trading Spaces use to take acrylic paint and pieces of wood and masking tape and make wall art. Is it that easy? Can I buy some foam board, acrylic paint, and have at it? Is there other things I should keep in mind? It's been a long time since I watched that kind of show and my memory is rusty.

I wasn't thinking of doing anything difficult. Just solid blocks or triangles.

Bonus: I'm also open to any more ideas about how to add color to the space. Especially on-the-cheap.

(I am a graphic artist, but it's all digital. I have the basics of understanding color use and composition.. I just never applied it in a physical sense)

posted by royalsong to Media & Arts (15 answers total)

You can build a simple frame/canvas stretcher (or buy a big plain picture frame) and stretch bright fabric over it and staple it in the back.
posted by artychoke at 7:11 AM on September 1, 2011

Is it that easy?

Well...at the most basic level...yeah. It's that easy. Of course, it helps to have an eye for composition, form, color, movement, etc. etc. Since you say you're a designer, I assume you have some level of ability in those areas.

I would not use paint on foam board. You stand a good chance of the paint soaking through. I would head down to HobbyLobby or some similar place, and get a couple of pre-stretched canvases to paint on. The plus to that approach is that, if you don't like what you did, you can just gesso over it and start over.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:13 AM on September 1, 2011

Another plus to doing some real-world, physical painting is that it will almost certainly make you a better digital designer.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:15 AM on September 1, 2011

There were two great tutorials about this topic on Jordan Ferney's site last month. How to Make Abstract Art is amazing and Potato Print Artwork DIY was much cooler than I would have thought.
posted by kate blank at 7:16 AM on September 1, 2011 [7 favorites]

i also vote for fabric on canvas stretchers. It looks neat, clean, and presentable. There are plenty of cool graphic large-scale prints around. And you can change it easily.
posted by peachfuzz at 7:18 AM on September 1, 2011

The main traps for newbies are things like paint bleeding around the edges of stencils, or if using brushes, not getting sharp enough edges. And if you don't use good quality paper or canvas, it can wrinkle or just not look very professional. Buy your supplies from an art shop, and ask advice from the people there with regard to paint, brushes, paper, etc.

I like this crayon "painting", as far as abstract, bright and colourful goes.
posted by lollusc at 7:28 AM on September 1, 2011

Skip the foam board. You can get fairly cheap canvas or go to an art store and get student grade canvas boards.
For the triangles, painters tape is your friend. But don't get the blue tape, get the green frog tape any hardware store will carry it.
posted by ljesse at 7:41 AM on September 1, 2011

Just wanted to chime in that yes, it is as simple as taking a paint brush and applying paint. Acrylic paint (whether in the small art/craft bottles, or tubes) is very easy to work with. You don't need water on the brush except if you want thin, thin lines with a thin paintbrush. You simply dip the paintbrush in the paint and move it around on your chosen medium (canvas/fabric/paper).

Acrylic paint dries quickly. Wash paintbrushes in between colors and when finished in just a plain bowl of water.

I don't know how "cheap" is cheap for you, but you can get pre-stretched canvas at an art supply store for relatively cheap. I am also an amateur painter, and have purchased pre-stretched canvas (cheaper quality than at that link, but can I tell the difference? Nope!) for $10-$50, depending on size. And the great thing about pre-stretched canvas is it looks good without having a frame. Just hang it up!

I highly encourage you to do this -- black & color lines in abstract fashion are amazingly professional-looking often times. Check out some of these simple designs on art.com that you could replicate easily! 1, 2, 3, 4. And that's just from viewing the first few pages of "abstract" art on art.com... I'm sure there are hundreds more!
posted by Falwless at 8:07 AM on September 1, 2011

Best answer: This project uses paint, canvas, and painters tape and has a clean moderny look to it. The bottom of the post links to another post that points to other people's attempts at doing something similar with varying tape widths and colour schemes.
posted by tangaroo at 9:28 AM on September 1, 2011

If you want to incorporate fabric, these painted fabric silhouettes are easy, clean and modern. They appear to be simple to create.
posted by Ostara at 11:23 AM on September 1, 2011

print out the letters of your name (or whatever) in a large font size. cut them out. arrange them on a canvas in a jumble, in an interesting way, until it no longer looks like it spells your name but makes an abstracted shape. then tape them together and trace them on the canvas. fill in with paint colors you like.
posted by Jason and Laszlo at 12:08 PM on September 1, 2011

Best answer: Oh ooh! I keep wishing for more wall space so I can make this: so simple, and very colorful!

Also look at the paintings section of etsy, something like this isn't too terribly hard to make - get several metallic paints in similar colors, a wide foam brush, and use lots of paint to give it that thick textured feeling. I totally suck at anything artistic and I've NEVER painted before, and I was able to make a sort of similar painting (not as good, obviously), and it was SO! MUCH! FUN! Seriously, it was was very therapeutic to be able to go a little nuts with paint on canvas.

This turns out very nice too, if you pick colors that go together. I made something like this, without any artistic skills. So yes, just buy some buy some foam board or canvas, acrylic paint, and have at it!
posted by never.was.and.never.will.be. at 12:56 PM on September 1, 2011

I find Alisa Burke's art blog inspiring overall, and she sometimes features tutorials on making large pieces to hang in your house:

Fabric scrap collage
Large text painting made with shoe polish
Big and messy

posted by Squeak Attack at 2:03 PM on September 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Never, your second link isn't working. But your enthusiasm is infectious! I want to paint stuff right now!

tangaroo, that is very cool and exactly the kind of thing I had in my head.

Can someone tell me the difference between pre-stretched canvas and a canvas panel?
posted by royalsong at 4:46 PM on September 1, 2011

Best answer: Pre-stretched canvases are the kind with canvas stretched over a wooden frame. Canvas panels have canvas glued directly to a piece of cardboard. The panels are cheaper, but the pre-stretched kind look better without being framed. You can just paint on the sides to make it look more finished.
posted by artychoke at 6:38 AM on September 2, 2011