How much money have you spent buying art? Really, I’m curious. I spend money on art and people ask me why I would spend money when I can just make it myself. That is a good point, but the reason I buy it is because I like to support other artists. There are some talented people out there, as my blog has shown you, that deserve to be promoted. They have to make money somehow, and the only way that is going to happen is if you buy their art. But, enough with my supporting artists rant. This week my Make Something Mondays project is DIY abstract wall art. Many people buy art because they don’t think they can make it themselves. You can.

The joy with abstract art is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. There was a period called Abstract Expressionism when artists showed how they felt by painting on canvas. It doesn’t have to mean anything to the viewer, although it often does, it just has to mean something to the artist. You can do this, even if you don’t think you have any talent.

Things You Will Need:
Canvas
Newspaper
Acrylic paint
Masking tape
Paint brushes/sponges

Step 1:

Using your masking tape, make a frame around the edges of your canvas. Then, separate the canvas into quadrants.

Step 2:

Pick out the paints you are going to use. I used 3 paints per quadrant.

Step 3:

Using one of the sponge brushes, sponge a layer of the lightest color over one of the quadrants. Keep turning the sponge brush so you begin to create a pattern.

Step 4:

Pick the next lightest color of the 3 you chose. Continue the same brush pattern like the image above. With this color, layer on less of the paint so that the yellow (or your first color) is still visible.

Step 5:

Using the darkest color, and the least amount of paint, continue the same pattern.

At this point, you should have something that looks like this. If you feel like you’ve overdone it with the darker colors you can always add another layer of your lightest color over top. Don’t go overboard though.

Step 6:

Repeat steps 1-5 on your remaining quadrants. You can pick whichever colors you want.

Let the canvas dry. This shouldn’t take more than 5-10 mins. Acrylics dry fast.

Step 7:

Add a few lines of masking tape across the top and bottom of each quadrant. Leave a small amount of space between them similar to the image above.

Step 8:

Pick a dark color that stands out in one (or all) of your quadrants. Paint the color of your choice between the tape.

When it is dry you can peel the tape off.

You should have something similar to the painting below.

See, you can do this! All it takes is some paint and a little bit of patients.

This one looks pretty good next to my other paintings.

I’ve done the Crayon Art as a Make Something Mondays in the past. I haven’t done any tutorials on the tree painting but if enough people are interested, I will gladly make one for you guys! Let me know in the poll below.

Are you interested in a tutorial for the tree painting above?

UPDATE:

You guys said you wanted to learn how to make the tree painting, so here’s a tutorial for you!