How to paint abstract art

We’re talking VERY abstract.

Beautiful, fluid in perfect coordination with your decor – but abstract nonetheless.

You will need:

canvas – however many and in whatever sizes you want to fill your space
leftover paints from your home (or you can use acrylic paints from the craft store)
putty knife
garbage bag

This is a very in-depth process, so you’ll have to watch carefully:

First, take your canvas – yes, I’m a horrible Mother for using my daughters’ artwork and painting over it – but we really do have several ~~million~~ of these gorgeous creations around the house.

Besides, now that I have it chronicled in the blog it will be a “Memory I will always remember”.

This is going to make a MESS – so you’ll want to lay down a garbage bag or two to protect wherever you’re working.

Take your leftover paints/acrylics – however many you choose,

and put glops of them onto your canvas.

Large glops will create big waves, small glops will create fine lines.

In hindsight, a shimmery gold would have been nice in this, or a contrasting colour for a nice ripple effect.

Then just manipulate your canvas until the entire thing is covered.

Rotate to get other angles and sides;

The longer you hold it in one direction the longer your waves will be. The more quickly you turn your canvas, the smaller the ripples.

You can use your putty knife at this point to pick up some of the paint that’s poured off and slap it back on to another section – just be careful not to stir the paint. You want the colours to stay as separated as possible.

These took 3 days to dry – but I (accidentally) used a LOT of paint.

Put them on a level surface, ideally on blocks) so that the sides can finish dripping and the air can get underneath to help dry out the canvas.

Not too shabby eh?

Particularly since I have no artistic talent whatsoever.

Time to remove my “Faux iron art” (just paper towel rolls glued together and spray painted)

I’m thinking three might be better, or perhaps larger canvasses – but overall, I LOVE the look!

UPDATE: March 10/15 The girls and I took another swing at creating abstract art for the bedroom, this time on more appropriately sized canvas, and came up with these beauties:

Come back tomorrow and I’ll show you another craft that you can make with the residual paint that is on the garbage bag – no use wasting if you can create something beautiful with it right?

Easy-peasy abstract art!