geometry

I didn’t think it was going to be so soon since my last painting project that I would find new inspiration for another! Here is the newest piece that has struck me as something I would like to see on the wall above our bed, could see myself actually painting, and all the supplies cost $20! (You can purchase prints of Simon Page’s work here.)

I purchased a 22″ x 28″ canvas for $15. Ben Franklin Crafts was having a great deal on craft acrylics – 3 bottles for $1 so, the bf and I picked out a ton of muted tones that we liked to use along with paint I already have.

The next step was to figure out the math. 22″ divided by 8 vertical columns = lines spaced 2 3/4″ apart. I carefully marked those out and marked each inch along the left and right sides. Then I started intersecting lines accordingly with a straight edge and pencil.

Well…. there was a minor problem. I hadn’t realized the canvas was 1/8″ of an inch off and after a few horizontal lines, I noticed things weren’t intersecting right. Yeah. Lesson learned – double check your base measurements before you start! I had to erase everything and start over again. I just about lost it and had to calm down and think for a second. I found the center (with 1/16″ off on the left and right) and started over again. Success!

Oh, and these clear grid rulers are THE BEST for stuff like this! You can line things up perfectly!

Time to paint! Here’s my messy grid with some color filled in. I found that with light colors, after I had picked which area I was going to paint, it was smart to erase the inner lines so that I didn’t have to put tons of coats on to cover up the pencil marks. Oh, and with cheap paint… you pretty much get what you pay for. We won’t go into how much I hated using those damn cheap craft paints. I also painted the entire thing with my most favorite 1/4″ flat brush. It allowed me to get into teeny corners and keep clean edges.

Here’s a crappy phone cam pic of the painting in progress.

Over three weeks later and here’s the completed project! (Sorry for the bad pics. I kept forgetting to bring my good camera and I’ve been sick as a dog for 2 weeks.)

So yeah, it’s all done and now I don’t know what to do with myself in the evenings.

So why go through all this trouble when I could spend over $100 more and just buy the print and have it framed (framed because I’m not a teenager and I don’t tack up glorified posters on my walls)? Well, I think I just answered that question. I’m cheap.  I’m also a glutton for punishment, slightly OCD, and I like having projects that are customized for my own decor. So there.

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Tagged as: art, decor, design, diy, paint, painting