So, I had this unfinished painting on our wall (where it was supposed to go) that I had lost the inspiration I'd needed to complete it. I recently purchased a cool geometric, earth toned, faux painting thingy for the canvas but it fit so well with our colors that I decided to put it on a wall in the dining room (not the same wall as my unfinished painting).
Then, recently, I was struck by the idea of making squares/blocks of crazy paint and furthermore inspired by another artist who uses choppy, gradients of color with a lot of texture (her name escapes me but man did her paintings go for a pretty $)! I decided I should just use my pre-existing 36" X 36" canvas and paint over the inspirationless paint. Well, I couldn't seem to find the time lately between my previously hectic workout schedule and almost two months of building a website, with a "boss" who changes his mind on how he wants it. :)
Enter my kids! Ah hah! This will solve a time-dilemma! I would give them some squares, tell them what colors to use and how to paint them and thus finally accomplish a painting! Woohoo! Well, as it turns out, they didn't completely comply with my earth tones or trying to blend colors, or any other rules I announced before the five of us (my husband and 3 kids: 12, 10, and 4) except staying (mostly) in their squares. Needless to say, the painting turned out pretty darn fabulouso! All the colors match great with the red and green tones in our dining room and also the colorful fiestaware (in the right of the dining room pic, on the shelf)! I completed only 3 squares as I supervised and then put my youngest to bed the other evening whilst the rest went crazy without me!
By the way, the paint is really textured...it's a shame you can't really see that in the picture!
If you care to make one of these bad boys for yourself, here's a list of what you'll need:
-36" X 36" canvas (I used a 40-50% off coupon at Michaels and got a cheaper one)
-acrylic paint set (I used a 50% off coupon at Hobby Lobby for a set of basic colors)
-old paint brushes (specifically of you have kids as I do) and/or foam brushes
-matte texture compound (in a tube, again, another Hobby Lobby coupon from another visit)
-plastic pallets (they are super cheap at Hobby Lobby, and reusable!)
So, no water needed! You blend the texturizing compound to the paint on the pallets and as you mix, you can just go from one color to the next...make a mess, it is quite fun!! We did this out on our driveway, by the way! ND (my husband), didn't want the kids accidentally getting paint in the house anywhere (from experience with our 4 year old). Set your own parameters, give them some ideas, and if all else fails, try to help a little. Haha! In the end, just have fun and go with it! My 12 year old literally ended up taking white and yellow paint tubes and blobbing/splattering paint onto one of the squares (top left). The texture after it dried is actually super cool. He also added a banana (I was a little worried) to another square. One of my rules was no canvas was allowed to show thru (white), and I "fixed" a few spots where ND didn't follow this rule, unbeknownst to him, hehe. (They're somewhat light so he couldn't tell.)
Enjoy your family masterpieces and don't forget to put the date on the back and have each one sign it!
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