Easy DIY abstract artwork
DIY abstract art in the living room.
Have you ever looked at a piece of art and thought ‘I wish I could do that’ or maybe even ‘I BET I could do that’?
Or maybe you’re researching art to fill your home with, but finding it tricky to buy online — what if you don’t like it when it arrives? Are the dimensions right? Will it go with the room styling?
What if don’t have to be an artist or spend a lot of money to produce a timeless piece that you’ll love ten times more because YOU created it?
In recent years I’ve been discovering my taste in art.
It ramped up when I started researching pieces to furnish the house I bought with my fiancé. I primarily used Etsy to look for work from smaller, perhaps local artists and I noticed a definite theme amongst my favourites — it was all abstract.
Yet something was stopping me from ‘adding to cart’. Was it my inner creative spirit desperate to be unleashed? Or was it my practical and must-get-value-for-money-at-all-times trait that I’ve almost certainly inherited from my dad? Perhaps it was because art is very emotive, and I was struggling to form any kind of connection via a screen. Maybe it’s a bit more like a Venn diagram, and I’m in the part that overlaps all these things. Either way, something drove me to give it a go myself!
This piece was inspired by various other artworks I found on Etsy and also by artist and YouTuber, Riu, who very kindly shares her processes online.
I’ve tried two variations of this particular piece - black and white, but it would lend itself to an array of colours if that’s more your vibe. Plus , it’s easy!
Equipment list
Sand
Medium nylon paint brush
Palette knife
Black, white and gold paint
Blank canvas
This piece is all about texture. So that was where I started:
Creating the texture
Squeeze some paint onto a blank canvas, sprinkle over some sand, and use a palette knife to blend, move and spread the mix around .
It can be a bit nerve-wracking when you’re confronted with a canvas of nothingness, but just go for it - that’s the beauty of abstract art, you can’t really go wrong! And if a piece isn’t coming together, you can always paint over it and start again.
After 24 hours when the sand-paint mix is dry, use the same paint you used to create the sand texture to cover any exposed canvas. Then, with a medium paint brush (I used an old decorator’s brush I found lying around) to add some thick horizontal streaks in an opposing colour in various places around the canvas. Leave some areas blank to let the background colour shine through.
Use a palette knife to smear gold paint in concentrated parts of the canvas and highlight some of the texture. If you go overboard with the gold, let it dry, paint over it and apply again.
And that’s it! It really is that easy. And so effective.
Minimum effort, maximum impact!
