DIY Abstract Art Video Tutorial

My daughter Ellie was home sick today, so I figured it was a good opportunity to get her to hold my phone for a video.  In retrospect, maybe it was too hard for her to concentrate with a fever.... I should have waited. So, because the video here isn't up to par, just consider this a preview - I'll do a better one soon in the colors you guys liked. Also, the canvas I used was really bumpy with old layers, so I need a fresh one. Stay tuned!!

This post is a follow up video tutorial to my earlier post about DIY Abstract art. 

To see those first, click HERE.

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Ok, first, THANK YOU so much for the nice emails and comments. I was kind of overwhelmed by them (in a good way). You guys are too kind.

Secondly, I feel very badly about comparing my "art" to that of any real artist. They truly pale in comparison, and I would never say that abstract art is easy (just the opposite). My technique is really that of a hack, and is just meant to inspire those who, like me, like to try their hand in a bit of everything. Mad respect to all the real artists - please don't be offended.

Here we go....

Materials:

1. Canvas (Michaels, AC Moore, etc.)  Even paint over store bought art that you have but may not like. I actually bought some really not so nice ones at Home Goods for this reason and painted over the canvas because it can get expensive to frame things.  I used all different sizes  - 12"x12", 12x18, 12x24, and one 36x36 - but the one in this video is 12"x12".

2. Any brush.  I like stiffer bristles, and the one I used was from Ellie's art supplies, so I am quite sure it was cheap.

3. Acrylic paints - the very cheapest ones are garbage. I'd go a step up to the ones that are about $1.50 each. I like the Americana brand. And remember - lots of white!!

Technique:

I couldn't find the pause button on my phone so I had to make two videos:

Part 1:

(If you cannot see it here, this is the YouTube link)

Part 2:
(If you cannot see it here, this is the YouTube link)

So when I was uploading these, I realized that I did indeed over blend the orange, so I went back and added some darker orange in the corner:

Obviously, these are wet and will look better, less shiny, when they are dry. But I think there are too many layers to look as smooth as the ones I posted yesterday, but we'll see.

One more note about color. The "cleaner" and brighter colors work better, in my opinion. So, instead of a pale blue, get bright blue and use the white to water it down. When I used colors like these, the painting was very blah:

 

 And here's another example - the purple on the left is much better than the one on the right, although it might just be a personal preference:

These are the ones from the earlier post if you missed it:

Ok, so I hope that helps. If you're like me, you'll be addicted by dinner and have all new art by morning :)

DIY Abstract Paint Canvas Art

Ellie and I made these over the weekend with some old canvases and acrylic paint. They were totally random (we used brushes, paper towels, fingers, and even a paint cap to spread paint) and I could not recreate them exactly if you paid me a million dollars.

Painting #1:

Painting #2:

Painting #3:

Painting #4:

Painting #5:

Painting #6:

It was NOT as easy as I thought it would be to achieve this mostly blended look that I wanted. But by the end, after a few do-overs, I found a definite technique:  I'd start with 2 or 3 colors in the corners of the canvas. I'd blend them with white, but not too much or the colors would get muddy. Then I added more white where it needed a pop, and blended some more to soften the transition between colors. It sounds kind of vague, I know.

HERE is the post with the video tutorials on how I did this.

Now, to go scrape the paint of my floors, table, island, grill, and one cabinet door.

What's that? A drop cloth you say?

Sorry, never heard of one.

A Design Trend I Love (DIY Confetti Dot Walls) & 50 Favorites for Friday: Eye-PoppingColorful Rooms

I'm on a roll with the mobile stuff. Yesterday, I made the site mobile friendly (finally) and today I figured out the "Pin It" button for mobile. Honestly, it wasn't that hard, but I hadn't had a chance to look into it until now. So, what's cool about it is IF you are reading on mobile you'll see this Pin It button right under the orange subscription links:

However, if you are reading on desktop, you won't see it and can still use the image hover like always. Isn't that cool?

(PS - the hover button was down on Pinterest's end yesterday, and many of you told me (THNAK YOU), but I believe it is resolved now).

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Happy Friday everyone! Have you guys seen this do-it-yourself confetti dot trend on Pinterest lately? I can't really imagine it anywhere except a child's bedroom, but I love it there, and the possibilities for variations are endless:

This is my favorite one:

But I really love this idea, too. I've seen some tutorials where people drop the dots with magic marker, rather than using stickers like in the images above. I think this one below is probably wallpaper, but like I said I have seen it done in sharpie. Wouldn't it be cute to do it in a gold metallic paint pan on a navy blue wall?

Actually I am starting to rethink my initial feeling that this would only be for kids rooms. I'm picturing the navy blue and gold and a dining room now. Hmmm.....

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And finally, here are 50 very colorful rooms I've been loving. Most of them are older, but I keep going back to them:

And to continue with the brights....

images