DIY Canvas Painting

So I have a pretty simple style, as you can probably tell by my blog, which by the way, I'm still working on tweaking some things, here and there. But when I moved into my condo seven, eight months ago, I had no idea how I wanted to decorate. I still don't.

Seriously, I barely have anything decorative up.

But as I'm looking around more and more, and seeing ideas on Pinterest, or when I go to the store, I get a better sense of what I like (and what I can and cannot afford).

I stumbled across Lulu and Georgia one day and while I was looking at all of the beautiful things I'd like to have, I found this particular piece of wall art that just screamed my name.

The Cloud Cover II Print - Art (and this photo) found here

I've never felt this way about abstract art before! It had to be mine! I had just the place to put it, too! There's a beautiful pink version as well, but this gray one matches my walls and furniture perfectly.

But I just couldn't allow myself to dish out over $200 for it, so I immediately wanted to try to recreate it. Luckily, my mom is an artiste, and had a few 4x6 canvases and some sponge brushes that I could have, so I could test out some colors and techniques, to try to make my own cloudy sky.

I headed over to A.C. Moore to check out some paints, and found the perfect colors - Americana's "Deep Midnight Blue" and "Grey Sky", and Delta's "Charcoal" - for about $2 a bottle. I bought multiple bottles, so I'd have enough paint, but honestly, I only needed one bottle of each color.

I also picked up little sea sponges, like these, to help me blend out the paint. Unfortunately, A.C. Moore's online store is still in the works, but because I live close to one, I was able to get what I needed there. JoAnn's Fabrics, Michael's, or Amazon are other great options you can check out.

When I tested the colors and brushes, they worked perfectly. The colors were spot on, and the sponges blended everything nicely, giving it sort of a misty, cloudy feeling.

Next, I had to find the right sized canvas. I wanted something big enough to fill the space above my sofa, but not something that took up the whole wall. I found a canvas, again, at A.C. Moore for about $55, but got it for about $25 with a coupon. I think it was 24 in. x 48 in. Craft stores send out great coupons all the time, and you sometimes get an even better one for signing up your email for the first time, so you can check out other stores. Amazon has some great choices, too.

For the fun (and easy) part, I painted my canvas in thirds with the sponge brushes, one at a time, so it'd be easier to blend the edges. I went back with the sea sponges to blend the lines where the colors met, as well as to dab the paint on, to make it look more blended and to create that misty look.

My canvas obviously turned out different than the one I found online - I do wish I blended my colors a little better - but I feel like that's the beauty of creating your own art! It's supposed to be different! Especially abstract art. I've always really like more abstract art, so when I saw this, I knew I liked it and would be able to try to recreate it.

I really like how this turned out, plus the fact that the first piece of art hung up in my condo was my own! I definitely plan on more DIY projects to make my house a home!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you found a little inspiration for your next art project! If you happen to paint anything, I'd love to see it! Show me on Instagram by using #MNIScanvas!

♥Sara

All photos by Sara, unless otherwise noted.