Young House Love

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How To Make A Geometric Painting On A Canvas

What is it about painting that makes me feel all frenchified and beret-worthy? Anyway, I finally got around to painting one of the giant (and deeply discounted) 40 x 30″ canvases that we scored for $23 from Michael’s thanks to 50% off with an additional 25% off on top of that (more details about how that happened at the end of this post). Ever since discovering this inspirational poster design from here (thanks to my good friend Pinterest) I knew I wanted to adapt it a bit. You know, go wide instead of vertical and have some fun with a few $2 paint samples from Lowe’s (total spent on paint: $9 for three pots which I then mixed with white craft paint that I had on hand to create a ton of different tints of the same few hues).

First I used a yardstick to space out equal vertical lines (I just used the width of the yardstick itself to keep things even) which I drew with a pencil:

Painting Stripes

Then I used the corner of a little card that we got in the mail (from an oil-change place) to create those angled peaks to mimic the prism-like shapes from my inspiration.

Painting Angles

Painting Angles2

Then I just filled each shape in with a variety of shades of blue and green (all derived from the three test pots of paint from Lowe’s and some white craft paint to make some of the shapes lighter). As for the specific paint colors, I used testers of Tropical Waters, Embellished Blue, and Thermal Spring by Behr. Here was what I was left with at first:

Painting Dark

It was fun and kind of high-energy, but the contrast was a little too much for me. So my foray into painting reminded me why I love painting so much: you can always paint right over it. So I mixed up a much lighter shade of greeny-gray and went over all of the darker green parts for a much more subtle tone-on-tone effect. I ended up here:

Painting Finished1

Painting Detail3

I love the imperfect lines and painterly brush strokes and the varied shades of the same few tones. The only thing I don’t like is the location. It just doesn’t feel right in our bedroom since the walls are a similar shade (and we thought the tone on tone look of the art might layer in nicely but it’s feeling a bit too monotone-ish and blah for us). So we’re thinking we might hang it in the dining room once we have a nice big buffet or console to go under it near the front entryway. Or it might end up somewhere else entirely. Just not on a soft blue-green wall. I guess I just like tone on tone art that’s not also on a wall of that tone. Go figure.

Painting Finished1

I went into this project expecting it to take an evening or two and it actually took a while longer (maybe four or five two-hour sessions) but in the end I almost didn’t want it to end. It’s just fun to paint again. Maybe I’ll tackle something else soon. I hope so. Have you guys painted any canvases recently? It totally took me back to my high school and college days (I took every art class my high school offered and then went off to art school in NYC for college- where I somehow ended up with a BFA in Advertising Design). Although using the paint pots from Lowe’s definitely made me smile since I’m used to paying five million dollars for oil paint (ok, that’s an exaggeration, but it wasn’t always cheap for a broke college kid).

And speaking of art school, that’s where a drawing professor of mine dubbed me “the narrator of life.” Apparently I’d just sketch and jabber on about everything as it happened (ex: “oops, I dropped my charcoal” or “now for the foreground” or “yikes, it’s noon already”). I sound really annoying right? Thankfully most of it was under my breath. My teacher had to lean in and ask what I was saying, which prompted me to realize that I was actually saying things out loud (I was in the zone, I knew not what I did). That “narrator of life” nickname embarrassed me at the time, but now I find it hilarious that my actual profession is essentially to narrate my life. Who would’ve thought. Maybe I should hunt down that professor (on Facebook?) and tell him where I ended up. Just don’t tell him I used house paint instead of oil paint. Scandalous.

Comments

  2. Gina says

    Love it! Also, someone may have already asked this, but I’m so curious where the throw pillow in the picture is from.

    Reply

  3. Adam says

    Reminds me of some of the projects I did back in the early years of college, in color theory and 2-d composition. I kept my paints and always thought I would break them out again, but never did (they are probably dried out by now anyways). But this post was inspiring! I need to find an inspiration piece and DIMS! (do it My Self, lol).

    Reply

  4. Sam says

    Hey Lovers!

    I just wanted to share this with you, I was so inspired by this post that I drew on it (read: outright copied it) for my best friend’s birthday this weekend.

    http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z72/sammywoo88/utf-8BSU1HLTIwMTEwNTIzLTAwMDM4LmpwZw.jpg

    It’s a much smaller version. Originally I wanted to do it on 3 long thing canvasses but I couldn’t find the perfect ones so this has to do for now.

    Thank you so much for the inspiration!

    Hugs
    Sam

    Reply

    • Sam says

      Aw you’re too kind! I’ll have to take a nice non cellphone picture when it’s in situ.

      P.S. Check out my grandma’s fabu wallpaper. Nothing says “chic” like textured, dirty beige vinyl right?

  6. Rachel Jacobs says

    Sherry…it is all down hill I know have a HUGE obsession with Pinterest. It is way cool and a great way to save your inspirations. Thanks so much for sharing that cool site.

    Reply

  7. Erin says

    I love this painting! SO much so i tried to make one for myself. :) I’m for sure no artist but i thought it turned out nice.

    Reply

  9. Lacey says

    omg mad. this is exactly what i’ve been looking for. i have a canvas that has been sitting in my room for years (years. literal years.) it’s so big and intimidating and scary. BUT with your inspiring post i think i can be the ultimate winner in this situation. thank youuuu!

    Reply

  10. Tristin @ Two Girls Being Crafty says

    Oh, I am SO in love with your redo of this art. You made it see very do-able. I’ve had it pinned for a few weeks but haven’t started yet. I just have so many projects on my list!

    I have done a few knock-off art pieces myself and I have shared them on my blog–I noticed that Sherry even pinned one of my art knock-offs and I was majorly flattered. Shoot. I felt like I’d hit the big-time.

    Anyhow, I want to know… Do you guys ever catch flack for making “knock-offs”? I feel like I’ve finally “made it” in the blog world because I’m getting criticism (specifically for this piece: http://twogirlsbeingcrafty.blogspot.com/2011/02/painted-wall-art-for-non-artists.html#comments).

    I feel like it’s perfectly legit, because like you, I give credit where credit is due and I’m not selling the art or trying to pass it off as my own. Thoughts?

    P.S. Keep up the good work. You guys constantly keep me inspired to make my house a home.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      So pretty! As far as knock offs go, we definitely get inspired by things around us and like to do our spin on those things. It’s never as amazing as the original, which might help us not get much flack – haha. As you mentioned, we also always link and credit things. I guess it’s just expected that we’ll be inspired by something and share our take on it (to save money, and because we’re just hopelessly addicted to having paint under our nails, haha). I truly believe that even big fancy artists and high-end designers are inspired by others and the things they see around them. Nobody lives in a vacuum, so in some ways, everything that we see is probably some iteration of something else that someone saw and riffed on. We’re all sponges, right? So we believe that as long as you’re not blatantly ripping things off, you’re sure to credit and link to things that inspire you, and you don’t sell anything (making money on someone else’s design is kinda icky) it’s all good!

      xo,
      s

    • Tristin @ Two Girls Being Crafty says

      Thanks for the thoughts. I’m right there on the same page as you. I guess I’ll have to learn to let it roll off my shoulders, but, being a responsible and thoughtful person, it really bothers me that there’s someone out there calling me unethical.

      Oh well. My initial thought is “why don’t they just go comment on something somewhere that they like rather than leaving negativity–I mean, no one’s forcing them to recreate the art if it hurts their conscience”.

      Your insight is greatly appreciated!! In the meantime, I’m gonna go enjoy a smoothie with my little one and enjoy this hot summer day, ; ) Hope you have a great day, too.

  11. Erin says

    Love the painting! One question though. I’ve done something similar in the past but the paint didn’t cover up the pencil lines. Any ideas? Did you use a regular pencil to outline your shapes?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      My pencil lines are mostly invisible since I painted over them (maybe some acrylic paint is thicker than others? or it depends on the color?). I did just use a regular pencil but I pressed as lightly as possible.

      xo,
      s

  12. Sabrina says

    What a great piece for inspiration! And I think I’m might just copy this idea…maybe change up the colors? Maybe not. Thanks again YHL! Pinned this. Ha!

    Reply

  13. Paula says

    I’m wondering if this is currently hanging anywhere in your home – I don’t think I have seen it recently. I am thinking of doing something like this and was curious where yours ended up =)

    Reply

  16. Jody says

    I was just wondering, why do you always use test pots? Wouldn’t regular craft paint from michael’s do the same thing for a lot cheaper?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’ve definitely used those $2 tubes of paint from Michael’s, but the bigger test pots are only $2.99 (for about 3-4 times the amount of paint) so if it’s a color we think we’ll use a lot (or a large project that we worry about running out of those smaller tubes) we’ll usually go for test pots.

      xo
      s

  17. cathy says

    Hi I love the painting… The colors are beautiful, and the instructions seem like something I could even follow..
    I do have a question. I want to paint the walls in our home gray and the woodwork white. I’m wondering how light I can go with the gray and still have it look gray against the white..

    Thanks you

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I would try bringing home swatches to hold them up against white trim to make sure they look different enough but not too dark for your taste. Good luck!

      xo
      s

    • cathy says

      Thank you! I’ve already got the swatches and hopefully we close on the house this week, so I can get in and start painting…I’m using all tones of gray for the house…with white woodwork…

      Thanks again

  18. Leigh Anne says

    I’ve been scrambling my brain to think of some art that would look great in our bathroom and was planning on using house paint we had from previous projects. I was a googling machine yesterday in an attempt to get info! Then I remembered that you all had done something similar way back and found this post! How has it held up over time? Some of the websites I found mentioned that durability is the main issue. I don’t intend for it to last decades or anything, but a few years would be nice. Thanks for the help!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Let’s see, I think we had ours until we moved last summer (I gave it to a friend who loved it since we had an insane amount of art at that house) – it held up really well that whole time (in the bedroom and then later in the bathroom).

      xo
      s

  19. Allen D says

    I totally copied your copy! It turned out great…thanks for the easy-to-follow instructions and pictures. My parents saw my results and said, “We didn’t know you could paint so well!

    Many regards for your wonderful Canvas Design ideas.

    Reply

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