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Isn’t it amazing how absolutely difficult it can be to DIY up your own art that doesn’t look totally ridiculous?. For whatever reason whenever I DIY up art to be abstract it’s just a hot freaking mess.
But I really, really want to add color to my office/crafting space. In my old house, everything was plain and white. Better for inspiration I supposed based on the fact that I had customers wanting me to step away from red for their color schemes in my graphic design business. Apparently, I started pushing the look of everybody’s brand into something red. And guess what? My office was painted red!
Now today we’re going to make some abstract art and it truly is going to be simple. Now I can’t promise that everyone is going to be a gorgeous masterpiece, because things happen, but my two were both successes as far as I’m concerned. Ready to make some pretty, colorful artwork? Let’s get to it!
For this project you will need:
- Canvas
- Bleeding Art Tissue Paper
- Water
- Chip brush or other large brush
Okay, let’s get one thing straight from the get go here… not just any tissue paper is going to work. Go buy up a bunch from the gift wrapping section of your store and you’ll be bashing your head against the wall trying to figure out where you went wrong.
What you need is bleeding art tissue paper. I looked and looked around a really big city and couldn’t find this for sale ANYWHERE. So there’s a good chance you;re going to have a hard time coming across this yourself as well. I got mine from Amazon, like I get all of my hard to find crafty things. It’s about $8 for 25 sheets and it will last forever. Plus there are a bazillion colors in this thing.
Cut your bleeding paper into shapes or strips or circles or whatever strikes your fancy. I obviously went with strips. I just grabbed up half of the package and snipped right across all in one go.
Using a chip brush, or other cheaper brush, wet your canvas with water. More water will make your finished product more fuzzy, blurred and less water will make the lines of each piece more defined.
Lay your cut pieces however you please onto the canvas. You may need to use a slightly wet brush to help push the paper to the canvas to where it will stick.
Until the entire canvas, including the sides is covered.
For an even fuzzier, more blended look apply water liberally to the top.
Set the canvas aside to dry.
Once dry, remove the tissue from the canvas and discard.
I keep turning my canvas around and around trying to find the best way for it and I keep changing my mind, but I love the colors and I’m excited that they fit in so well with the decor scheme I’m looking for!
As a quick warning, this paper will stain the living daylights out of your hands so wear gloves or prepare to be colorful for a day or so.
I’ll post more pictures of both of my canvases (the second one is a surprise I guess :) when I get my office all set up so keep an eye out for that!
