Are you ready to start a new hobby, decorate the walls of your home, or just unlock your creativity? You may be interested in creating stretched canvas prints.
Artists have been using stretched canvas for painting since the 16th century during the Italian Renaissance. Today, it’s still a popular material for painting due to its longevity and ability to absorb richly saturated paints.
With this in mind, read on for our top art ideas when it comes to stretched canvas art!
Start With Minimalism
If you’re a complete beginner at painting on a blank stretched canvas, you may want to start with a minimalist painting. These types of paintings don’t have a lot of detail. Instead, they depend on defined shapes and minimal artwork in order to create an elegant image.
All you’ll need is a small supply of puffy paint, your canvas, and a pencil in order to create the outline you desire. You then apply the paint to your outline. Once it’s dry, you’ll have a textural, minimalist painting that will look beautiful in any room of your house.
Create a Canvas Wall Display
If you enjoy photographing more than painting, you can still benefit from using stretched canvases for your work. Consider using an online printing company in order to print your portraits, landscapes, or abstract work on a number of different sized canvases.
You can then create an attractive gallery wall in a prominent place of your home. This is the perfect project for family photos, vacation photos, or of your dear pets.
Wallpaper Art
You may not have a creative bone in your body, but you still want beautiful art to display on your walls. If this is the case and you’re on a budget, consider using peel-and-stick wallpaper on a large stretched canvas.
Purchase a pattern that matches the rest of the interior decoration of your space and make sure to purchase dimensions large enough to cover the entire canvas. You’ll want to slowly peel the backing as you work your way applying the wallpaper across the canvas.
Geometric Abstract Art
This is another great idea if you’re looking for some budget-friendly wall art but wouldn’t describe yourself as a painter. If you like the work of geometric, abstract art, you can make it yourself by applying painter’s tape directly to the canvas.
Create several triangle shapes with the tape until you’re satisfied with the composition. Start painting one section at a time and remove the tape once the paint draws. You can also consider using a black canvas such as this canvas product to give your artwork a dramatic look.
Literature Showcase
If you consider yourself an avid reader, you can create canvas art based on your favorite book. You can also consider using several stretched canvas sizes in order to create a collage that features separate chapters.
Find a copy of the book that you’re willing to cut up, and cut out your favorite sections and chapters into different shapes. Then, adhere them to the canvas in an overlapping collage or in several shapes that fit together like a puzzle piece.
Consider practicing on the floor first and taking a photo so that you can be 100 percent sure you’re happy with your creation.
Gold Paintings
You can create the look of abstract, gold paintings with only a few supplies. Even better, creating these works of art only takes a few minutes:
- One or two acrylic paint colors
- Stretched canvas
- Paintbrushes
- Spun Gold acrylic paint
With your gold acrylic paint, apply two to three coats to the entire canvas and allow it to completely dry. Next, take your colored acrylic paints and apply uneven strokes across half of the canvas. You can also get more creative and apply several lines, patterns, or whatever design you desire.
Consider painting another canvas that mimics the one you just painted but with a complementary color.
Oceans and Clouds
Not everyone likes the look of hard geometric patterns. If you want a canvas that looks more like soft clouds or the waves of an ocean, consider using watercolors on your canvas.
Saturate your canvas with a foam brush and water, then add watercolor drops to the surface of the canvas in any color you desire. You’ll then add more water to those drops, and add a second color once those drops begin to spread.
Once you have the colors you desire, start spreading them gently around the canvas with your foam brush. You can also blow the watercolor around with an empty bottle or a hairdryer on the cool setting in order to create a natural effect.
Keep adding more pigment and water until the entire canvas is covered and you’re happy with the swirling patterns you’ve created.
Compliment Your Creativity With Stretched Canvas Art
It’s important to keep in mind that you don’t need to see yourself as an accomplished artist in order to create art you enjoy. Everyone starts somewhere–be willing to experiment, make mistakes, and keep trying.
Consider your goals for creating canvas art–do you want beautiful wall art, unlock your artistic potential or a combination of the two? This will help inform the first project you start with.
For instance, creating geometric art with tape or painting your canvases gold are quick ways to feature affordable, abstract art on your walls. But if you want more creative input, consider using watercolors for a more organic process.
Ready for more affordable ways to brighten up your walls? Keep reading the blog for more tips and strategies!