As with any “creativity” centered project…an idea is not just an idea. Please allow me to elaborate. Any artsy person will tell you, when we have something in our head…nothing else will ever be good enough. I am not sure what prompted me to want to create this canvas. Perhaps it was just the sight of the inspirational photo which ultimately inspired this wild and crazy concept that I could replicate this fancy work of art itself. Or, maybe it was because I needed a piece to go over my bed on this big baron wall in my boudoir (this thing called a bedroom…a room with…a bed…in…it). Crazy huh! None-the-less...

Step 1: D.I.Y Art

I set out on a fancified shopping trip to Michael’s. Armed with a digital coupon I was abound to wreak havoc on this store with 50% off. Turns out an $11 canvas can create something spectacular. I estimate the entire project cost me just under forty bucks (total supplies). However, the emotional labor was much pricier. You see, what I was looking to achieve didn’t work out as planned; which prompted a second trip to Michael’s to start the entire project over (yes, armed with another coupon…this one was only 30% off…still not bad in the long run).

I will take you to the almost beginning, you know how they say that you should follow your first mind. They’re right! Hindsight is definitely 20/20. But I just had to have my way. I laid out the canvas just so, making sure each strip of painter’s tape was laid out in [crisp] ninety-degree angles. It was gorgeous as is, however, I was excited to get started with all of the marvelous colors I had painstakingly picked out to lay in each shape of their own. After embarking on this color coordinated journey, I should have stopped. Guess what? I did not! I needed it to be just as I had envisioned it. After the first white line had been painted its copper-y hue, I knew I had made a boo-boo. It was hideous! Now how was I going to right this wrong.

Research my good (wo)man! Research! I now needed a medium base that was strong enough to cover the entire project that I was sure initially was going to be a masterpiece. I was devastated. Crushed. I triumphed on. Scouring all the YouTube videos I could find of more experienced creatives to give me the guidance needed to rekindle the fire in me to take my tragic mistake to a happy accident. I found a suggestion for a surface preparation black colored gesso by Liquitex Professional. I left the project alone for some time after prepping. Using the lines that remained behind from the first go-around. But it was untouched for quite some time. Perhaps it was anxiety of messing it up all over again. So instead, I relaxed my mind and was just still…for a couple months, still. Then one day, I felt an inkling to paint. This time I would take the canvas in a more subdued color scheme (not really monochromatic, but in the essence of monochromatic), forever feeling the ills of the dread colorful palette that once was.

Armed with only five colors. I deeply agonized over each color placement, carefully envisioning the end result. My happy accident had arrived nine months later, it really was like giving birth to something special. It was the best(est) feeling in the world. Completion. Creative euphoria. Painting Precision. Magnificent execution. A happy accident!

Turns out I did all this work to create a treasure to hang over my head while I slumber which doesn’t actually hang over my head at all as I slumber…it hangs on an opposite wall as my betta fish lay inactive in nocturnal bliss. Do betta’s even sleep? Lol.

Canvas started: October 13, 2016 Canvas finished: July 9, 2017

Step 2: Supplies

Canvas: Size 20 x 30

Painters tape (good quality)

Scissors

Paint – My suggestion list

1. black colored gesso - Background

2. DecoArt Metallic – Champagne gold

3. FolkArt – Pure gold 1654

4.5. & 6. Craftsmart premium satin – Deep peach, grey, and Cream

Brushes (Craftsmart 7pcs and ArtMinds roller brush)

Step 3: Putting It Together Step-By-Step

Step 1 – Choose a canvas appropriate for the space you want

to decorate

Step 2 – Purchase supplies

Step 3 – Search for an image to replicate or use the one I’ve marked “Inspiration”

Step 4 – Paint entire canvas with the paint roller using the black gesso (Do Not use a brush) allow 2 days for the canvas to fully dry. Trust me on this ?

Step 5 – Lay out your lines using painters tape in the desired fashion. If you need to readjust your lines you may do so; because you listened and let the paint cure for two days the tape will not pull up the paint once fully dried.

Step 6 – Make sure you use ample colors sporadically so that no two colors are directly near each other. Think long and hard about this. My advice is to use a piece of black construction paper as a sample to see if your color scheme works beforehand.

Step 7 – Use your discretion if you need a second coat. Once complete, allow drying overnight.

Step 8 – Pull up painter’s tape carefully.

Tada!