2 hour painting

Is is a painting? a craft? a papercraft? YEP, it is.
I know that a lot of people really WANT to paint but feel intimidated. Maybe the "drawing" part of it scares you. Or the color decisions are what keep you back. Or, that big 'ol blank canvas staring at you....maybe all of the above. Well here's a fun, fast way to get you started with paint!

I had saved this page from a magazine simply because it was beautiful. Waaay too beautiful to throw away. And, since we are all into re-use/recycle these days, this is the perfect opportunity to do your part and create something beautiful besides.
I used a pre-stretched canvas, some MODPODGE ™ from Plaid, one of my paper designs and some acrylic paint. You'll also need some old brushes for applying the MODPODGE™, some wipes and a bucket of water to throw your brushes in when you're done gluing.

I started laying out the pre-designed elements, in this case, the paper and the printed page from the magazine.

next, I gather my supplies.

First, I sprayed the paper front and back with a sealer which helps to keep it from bubbling up. I still had problems this time, but can go back after it's completely dry and with a pin, poke a couple of well placed holes to release the air bubbles. I hurried a bit too much and this is why I ran into problems. I know you'll do it right! I decided to remove the green area of the paper because it bubbled too much to fix, so I cut a line with my exacto and carefully lifted it off. No big deal, plan B, that's all.

Now I start adding in paint. I wanted to change and pump up the color to make this a more abstract art piece. I love big, bold strokes of color and the key to getting this is to use a big brush. If you use a tiny brush, you'll end up making tiny little stokes and get all hung up in detail. I wanted this to be fairly loose.

Here's where I'm stopping. I may come back in later and add something but am not convinced it needs anything else.

I hope you'll try this fast and fun approach to making art.
please note; a word about copyrights. When you make a piece like this, you are crafting with someone else's intellectual property. The photographer or magazine owns the copyright to the floral image therefore I would not sell this or claim it under my name. You could give it away or enjoy it for your personal use. You could NOT reproduce the floral image (or my paper designs for that matter) on a copier to make multiples. Just thought I'd add this because the whole copyright thing does get confusing!
HAVE FUN!

Comments

[Diane]

Brenda, What a fun idea for people intimidated by starting from scratch! BTW...I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your header! And also...thanks for reminding people about copyrights and on your other blog about stepping away from a forum when anger is present. Good advice!
Enjoy Ireland. Wish I could stow away with you.

Diane Knott

[Heather B.]

Brenda,
I'm so glad I stumbled upon your blog. I love this painting project and I love your mention of copyright!

I see a lot of artist/crafters using scrapbook paper in their pieces and reproducing it. For example: selling a piece of art with a piece of scrapbook paper as a collage element and making reproductions of that art piece to sell as prints. I do have a question for you...I spoke to another artist who uses scrapbook paper and commercial fabric in her art and I asked if she thought it was OK to sell a piece like this. She felt that you could as long as the piece was an original and not a reproduction.

I would love to hear your opinion on the subject of using scrapbook elements in art. Especially since you design them.

Thanks!
Heather

[Heather B.]

Brenda,
I'm so glad I stumbled upon your blog. I love this painting project and I love your mention of copyright!

I see a lot of artist/crafters using scrapbook paper in their pieces and reproducing it. For example: selling a piece of art with a piece of scrapbook paper as a collage element and making reproductions of that art piece to sell as prints. I do have a question for you...I spoke to another artist who uses scrapbook paper and commercial fabric in her art and I asked if she thought it was OK to sell a piece like this. She felt that you could as long as the piece was an original and not a reproduction.

I would love to hear your opinion on the subject of using scrapbook elements in art. Especially since you design them.

Thanks!
Heather

[Brenda Pinnick]

Heather, thanks for asking such a good question. First, read this post:
http://artsandcraftslaw.blogspot.com/2007/10/little-from-herea-little-from-there.html
What I'll add to that is this:
Each creator of original content can decide if they wish to let others create from their designs for commercial purposes. My opinion may differ from someone elses. I love creative people and want to encourage artists to use my designs in their own creative projects. If they want to take it further into creating art for sale, I would want 1. see the image 2. know exactly how many images they were going to make and how much they would sell for. I do have an angel policy, but it has limits.
Over a certain number of pieces, I would expect a small royalty for using my art and a contract would be drawn up.
THE BEST POLICY IS; ASK FIRST. I think a lot of artists/surface designers would be very generous if you ask them.

[rebekah meier]

Genius Brenda! I love this idea. Very non-intimidating!