Painting is something that I have wanted to do for a while, but time has always seemed to slip away from me. But this week, while it has been cold out, I completed my first painting! And I wanted to share the experience with you.
A few months ago, I purchased a pack of four small canvases from a store in my area, Five Below. I got them pretty cheap, which I thought was a good idea for a first painting. I didn’t want to spend too much on a canvas or pack of canvases that I would potentially mess up.
I sat down at my craft table and laid a towel out to protect the surface. As you can see, it’s a pretty ratty towel that I don’t mind getting messed up. I decided to try a geometric design for this painting, so I fished out a ruler to use, as well as a pencil for tracing lines.
I randomized my lines, but I still wanted them to look neat and balanced. I did use a pencil, but if I could re-do this painting, I would have used tape, instead. When I began to paint inside of the lines I had created, I realized I couldn’t really go back and erase the pencil marks. I was still happy with the way the painting turned out, but if I do a design like this again in the future, I will definitely try using tape and see how that works out for me.
I began filling in the lines with the lightest paint shade I set aside for this project, which would be this yellow-orange. You can see where the pencil lines stayed visible, even after filling in the spaces with color. I also decided to let some “strips” overlap others, as you can see. I thought that this would give a little bit more visual interest to the painting. It’s like someone set several strips of ribbon on the canvas and wove them. I randomized which parts would overlap others, while still trying to keep the overall painting balanced.
Another reason why I wish I would have used tape instead of drawing lines to fill in and use as borders is that it is really hard to paint inside lines. Perhaps it was due to the brushes I was using, but a few times I accidentally got paint where I didn’t want it to go. I feel that if I use tape to guide me next time, I can be a little messier and then, after the paint dries, pull the tape up and have a better result.
After the yellow paint, I filled in the spaces I wanted to be blue before rounding out the painting using black. I decided to use yellow and blue as accents, and I have to say I am pleased with the outcome. This didn’t take me long at all – I think I spent perhaps two hours on the whole thing, besides allowing it to dry for 24 hours. It isn’t a perfect painting, but I am happy with it, and I can’t wait to try another painting soon!
Do you like crafting with paint? Check out these cork pumpkins that I put together and painted.
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