paint

+ & –

by Lara on October 11, 2011

in + & -

  • So many things going on! I’ve been keeping myself busy and checking things off my to-do list. Maybe I’m crazy but I’ve already started Christmas shopping – mainly little things for the 12 Days of Christmas I’m doing for my mom and bf. I even made the little numbers for the bags!

got a few sheets of scrap booking paper (some had great patterns on both sides) and 2 things of 99-cent ribbon – cut them freehand – they’ll be stapled to brown lunch bags

  • I spray painted a Breyer horse! He hangs out on the radiator in the hallway. (I found a lil 1/2 size can of gloss white Rustoleum for $3 at Ben Franklin and used the whole thing.)

  • I made that crispy potato roast everyone pinned. Of course I added bacon and topped with cheese later. It was delicious but took almost 2 hours to bake! This is 4 baking potatoes and 4 shallots sliced with their bits stuck between each slice.

  • I met up with some bitchin broads in Colonial Williamsburg for brunch!

It was hard not to shove that adorable cup and saucer in my purse!

cheese and more cheese…

and even MORE cheese…

I had a great time with these ladies! Laura, Jen, (me) and Victoria

  • So I told you guys I was sewing that dog costume for a “friend”. Well the more I thought about it, the more pissed I got. Thing is, I hadn’t heard from the chick in almost 3 years. I had even deleted her from my Facebook in one of those fits of getting rid of people I never talk to. I had been getting an itch to sew and the bf kinda pressured me to be “nice” when she asked me so I agreed. She never offered to pay me either. Then the feelings of anxiety and anger began to rise in me – imagining all the work and ALL the grey fur that would’ve covered my apartment for days. I also have a ton of stuff I need to do. Then, I saw one of those things on Pinterest that said “A real friend doesn’t only call you when they need something.” That was it. I was done. I told her I couldn’t do it and OMG I feel so much better.   (And she never wrote me back.) So yeah, saying NO is good thing.

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copycat

by Lara on April 25, 2011

in art

 

It’s been a while since I’ve painted anything for the apartment. I got pretty burnt out this time last year, doing 3 paintings in a row. (here and here)

This design by Matt Moore has been in my inspiration folder for forever. I had a huge empty wall in my living room that needed something big and bold.

Every time I went to a craft store, I hoped to score a deal on a big square canvas but nothing was panning out. Squares are kinda hard to come by. I finally ordered a 30″ x 30″ canvas from Dick Blick and after shipping, it came out around $24. I would’ve liked one even bigger but this will do just fine.

Just placing the order was intimidating. It means you. have. to. do. this.

I had about a week of waiting to get psyched up. It finally arrived on April 18th and I immediately mapped out the lines. No measurements. Just found the burst point and eyed it.

I really like the color scheme of the original so, I stuck with that and wrote down in each section what color to use. I wasn’t planning on buying any additional paint (but did end up getting 3 extras) so, I got it as close as possible with what I already had.

Here are some crappy progress pics. Of course, it would’ve been great to use my real camera and make a lil gif but that never happened.

day 2

day 5

day 6

day 7 (7 stripes to go!)

I really kicked it into high gear over Easter weekend while the bf was out of town. I don’t use an easel and instead hunch over the painting, canvas in lap on my bed or sofa, getting paint out of the bottle cap, turning it around as needed. My back was pretty much killing me.

The entire painting was done with a 1/4″ Loew Cornell angle shader and random craft acrylics and enamel paints I had.

Here it is all done!!!    $27 and a week of my free time!

Oh yeah, I got that chair at Goodwill for $10 last week!

Being a perfectionist, I can see some tiny things I want to clean up but, I’ll take care of that in a day or two. I’ve had it and I’m DONE!

Here’s a post I did a while back to help you on your own painting!

{ 19 comments }

geometry

by Lara on April 7, 2010

in art,decor

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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who knew you were an artist?

by Lara on September 29, 2009

in art,crafty,decor

I have been bemoaning my bare walls for a while now and am in the long process of fixing this problem with a project that has become way more tedious than I had intended. Last week, I was talking with an old friend about her own place. She and her husband bought their first home and it’s quite large and they’re having a hell of a time filling it, especially with this economy and a new baby zapping their finances. I told her about some inexpensive crafty projects she could get herself into (like I’ve been doing but less tedious) and she wanted me to send more info her way.

These are the tips I sent her for creating inexpensive abstract art for your walls.

First, you need a plan.

  • Where is this painting going to go? What size would look good in that space? Get your tape measure out and figure how much of the area you would like to occupy. Most of the canvases you can get on the cheap are rectangular. Do you want it to hang vertically or horizontally?
  • The bigger the canvas, the more expensive but you can also consider doing a pair of paintings. They can be placed side by side as you paint, treated as one, and then placed a few inches apart on the wall. You could do a series with as many canvases that you want.
  • What is the color scheme? Which emotions do you want to evoke with color? What is going to complement your decor? (Abstract art can be at home in any setting.) Do you want to stick with a cool or warm color palette – or everything in between? Or do you want a greyscale painting?

<<<COOL vs. WARM>>>

  • How do you want this painting to look? Seriously! What painting have you seen that has left you thinking about it when you walked away? Why was it so compelling? What were those brush strokes like? Were there any other techniques employed like drips or bleeding of colors together? Do you think you could try your hand at a similar style? Can you see yourself sitting down on your living room floor for a few hours, or a few weekends, making it happen?
  • Draw out a plan. Use markers or colored pencils if you can. Write notes. Think in terms of layers – like what colors should you use first. Write down the steps you want to take and the colors you want to use. If you are into being organized and feeling like you have control over a situation, this is especially good for you. If this type of painting is something you have never done before, you will feel less helpless when you sit down with everything in front of you. OR you could pick a color scheme and just go crazy and see what happens. Either way, I think even Pollock made plans.
  • Craft stores have huge sales all the time. You can get fairly large pre-stretched, pre-primed canvases for pretty cheap if you keep up on the sales. Here you can find all sizes and 2′ x 3′ ones for $12!
  • Artist quality acrylic paints are pretty expensive but crafting acrylics are dirt cheap. Look for 2oz bottles like this. They come in an insane amount of colors and usually run about $1 a bottle. If you plan on painting a background color, you may want 2 bottles of that base color, especially for large or multiple canvases. Check the finish of the paint. Some are matte, glossy, iridescent, metallic, pearl, etc. Don’t forget you can blend your own colors as well with the 3 primary colors and black and white, or mix any other shades of colors together.
  • Styrofoam plates are great for mixing colors on. If you mix a large quantity of a certain color and don’t plan on using it all in one sitting, put it in an air tight container. It’s so difficult to mix the exact color over again.
  • I like using 3″ foam brushes for applying base coats and sealants. They don’t leave brush strokes and are super cheap.
  • Larger canvases usually have a reinforcing board down the middle. Think about this when applying a base coat and painting in general. Try to paint with it and not across it as you can sometimes get some paint build up on the canvas where the edges of the board are underneath. Under the right light or at the right angle, you will see it when you’re done and it may drive you insane.
  • Do you want to use brushes to paint? Think about the size of the canvas, the size of the strokes you want to make, and if you want to do any fine line work. Check out the acrylic paint brushes available at the store. There are so many different types I can’t even begin to go into it.
  • You can also paint with cheap plastic squirt bottles, various shaped/textured objects, your fingers… use your imagination. Puffy fabric paint of all things is awesome for texture. It’s what I’m using right now in my tedious secret project. There’s also spray paint – to be used outdoors.
  • Do you want to add any other elements to your art like hand drawn effects or imbedded objects?
  • Plastic drop cloths are about $2, and there’s always newspaper. Don’t forget to protect your floors, and have damp paper towels ready for quick clean-ups. I always manage to spill something.
  • Acrylic paint is thick. You can change the opacity by simply mixing it with water. Practice on paper first to see what you’re working with before you put anything on the canvas.
  • If you are painting in layers, make sure to let each layer dry for about 30 minutes, unless you want a bleeding effect.
  • Keep your brushes in water when not in use. Acrylic paint washes away from brushes and skin and most surfaces pretty easily with soap and water but once dry, it can ruin fabric and harden up your brushes.
  • Think about sealants. Let your painting completely dry and add one or two coats of acrylic gloss, Mod Podge, or even spray sealant (in a well ventilated area).
  • Hanging an unframed canvas is totally acceptable . Framing is super expensive, unless you get creative with that as well. This is up to you.
  • Just remember that “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”. You can plan all day long and have wonderful intentions but I’m telling you now, unless you are a miracle worker, something is going to mess up. If just one thing goes wrong, you’re lucky. Just relax and embrace it. You’re not recreating The Kiss. Happy accidents can usually work in your favor. The project I’m currently working on is taking a bit longer than I expected. That’s okay, because it’s going to be awesome. For god’s sake, have fun! Express yourself!

Here are some inspiration pieces I sent my friend, to get her creative juices flowing. Maybe they will inspire you! All via Design Milk.

Elizabeth Schuppe

Molly Courcelle

Kristine Harper

Matt Sohl

Nicole Poko – she freezes paint and works with the cubes in various ways!

By implying that anyone could create abstract art such as this, I’m not trying to insinuate that these artists don’t have talent. You must have an eye for it and an ability to manipulate your medium through familiarity, and a bit of bravery.

This is pretty much what I’m trying to say:

So… do it!

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