ROY G. BIV Art Gallery & Paint Class Diorama

IT'S RIGHT HERE, ELSIE JANE!

I made a diorama of a painting class and an art gallery. The art gallery is ROY G. BIV themed.

(The art piece on the left wall in the gallery is all the flowers I made in my "ROY G. BIV-Styled Flower Shop Diorama")

-My nail polish may look different in some photos, only because I took the photos during different weeks.-

**EVERYTHING HAND-MADE!**

Step 1: Materials and Supplies You'll Need (Miscellaneous Listing)

SUPPLIES CONSISTING OF:

1. One big box

2. Seven or so white sheets of paper

3. Rough, green cloth

4. White thread

5. White packing foam (The kind that sticks to everything)

6. As many crayons as you've got (ROY G. BIV at least)

7. As much paint or nail polish as you have (ROY G. BIV at least)

8. Clay

9. Two popsicle sticks

10. Three thumbtacks

11. As many scraps of cardboard you have

12. Lots of toothpicks (And I mean LOTS)

13. Three, short, wooden Lincoln Logs (Are they obsolete yet? Cuz I still have some from my childhood, and I'm NOT that old. Still in my tweens, to be exact.)

14. Brown yarn

15. Black, spongy packing foam (Memory foam?)

16. As many markers as you've got (ROY G. BIV at least)

MATERIALS CONSISTING OF:

1. Scissors (Obviously)

2. Tape

3. Glue (I use liquid cement, I'm sure glue guns are perfectly fine and will work just as well, without having to stand in the same position all day as I had to do...)

4. A knife (ONLY FOR CUTTING CARDBOARD AND FOAM--DON'T GET IDEAS, PEOPLE!!)

5. Sewing needle

6. Cloth scissors, but I doubt you'll need them--rough cloth cuts easily with normal scissors.

7. Sanding block (for safety...unless you like splinters while you're working)

Step 2: Adjusting the Dimensions

First things first, we have to fix up the walls and flooring.

I cut off the top flaps and also the front face. The floor is uneven, so I cut a strip of cardboard from one of the flaps and glued it between the two floor flaps. That evens out the floor.

I needed a wall, dividing the box in half, so I took the front face that I previously cut out, and cut off a rectangle on the top and bottom, measuring 6cm long, and 4cm wide. Then I cut a slit in the back wall, the size of the piece sticking out of the cardboard, and stuck it in. Wall done.

(Get it? It's like "well done" but since it's a wall, it's...ah, forget it.)

Step 3: Wallpaper and Flooring: the Rainbow Road

I wanted the floor on the left to be rainbow-colored, so I colored a
paper (measured exactly half of the floor) ROY G. BIV. I used my old Crayola Crayons, not the latest edition, so you might not have the crayons. (Just use your color pencils.) Here's the mix I used:

-Red

Scarlet

-Orange

-Yellow

Green-Yellow

-Green

Blue-Green

Blue

Indigo (LOTS of Indigo)

Violet

(The colors that aren't part of the rainbow overlapped the previous colors. That's how I made the colors blend so perfectly.) Then I just glued it on.

Step 4: Wallpaper and Flooring: Everything Else

I basically measured the rest of the walls and the other half of the floor, then just glued the white paper over.

Wow, this seems too brief.

Step 5: Doorway and Holding Up the Wall Divider

I made a doorway connecting the two rooms, 6cm wide and 10 1/2cm tall.

I found the dividing wall wasn't holding up too well, and kept sliding off to one side, so I glued a Lincoln Log to hold it in place. It worked.

Are Lincoln Logs obsolete? If they are, use anything else.

Step 6: The Canvasses

These didn't take much brainstorming, I just had to know if they'd work or not.

I cut out a rectangle of cardboard measuring 5 1/2cm wide, and 8cm long. I traced out a paper using the same measurements, and just glued it on, pressing lightly to hold it still.

(You can see how my paper looked like after cutting out five canvasses.)

Step 7: The Paintbrushes & the Sponge

Ugh, I forgot to take pics of how I made the paintbrushes, so here's a future pic. (Kind of a spoiler, actually...)

I get a toothpick and cut it in half. Then I sand off the tips so they won't prick me or anything.

I get a piece of yarn and cut it into tiny pieces, each piece measuring about half a centimeter. I dip the toothpick in glue and carefully place the yarn pieces on the glue, all around the toothpick.

Finally, I cut a tiny strip of tape and wrap it over the section where the yarn and toothpick meet.

(You'll see duct tape on some, but I quit the duct tape because it's so hard to cut.)

---

For the sponge, I just cut out a tiny rectangle (cuboid?) of spongy, black, packing foam. Memory foam. Idk, tbh.

Step 8: The Easels

These are SO cute! They came out perfectly.

First, you cut a rectangle of foam, measuring 5cm wide, 6cm long, and 1cm thick.

I found a brown crayon works exceptionally well on foam and used that to give the foam some color.

I used two toothpicks per leg, to ensure the easel wouldn't tilt. I glued and/or taped them together. (Depending on what I felt like doing--either is fine)

Then I stuck them through the foam, the two front legs sticking out a bit, and the one in behind, leaning back. That keeps it sturdy from every angle.

Finally, I add the popsicle stick. Depending on the canvass' height (some canvasses weren't exactly measured right--my bad), I would cut the popsicle stick with a centimeter to spare, sticking out from behind the canvass.

You should sand off the end where the popsicle stick snapped, so you don't get a splinter while you work.

With a knife, I cut a slit in the foam to place the popsicle stick inside. Then you just glue the canvass on the popsicle stick and tape a paintbrush on the foam.

You could splatter paint on the canvasses (like I did--Abstract art, people), or you could paint something majestic, I don't know. You decide.

Note: DON'T use liquid cement with foam--it does not agree at all. It seems to burn through, actually. (I learned the hard way, sadly...)

Step 9: CLAY: Palettes, Paint Jars, & a Lovely Jar for the Paintbrushes

Get out your clay, people, cuz you're gonna need it.

First, make three tiny jars, which will be the paint jars. Second, make two flat pear-shaped pieces, sticking a hole in the smaller side, which will be the palettes. Third, make a final jar which will be for the paintbrushes.

Once they're dry, leave the paintbrush jar how it is, splatter all colors on the two palettes, and paint the three jars these colors:

Red

Yellow

Blue.

You're probably thinking, "Why didn't she just make seven jars and paint them the colors of the rainbow?"

Well, I'll tell you.

First of all, who wants to make seven jars? Second of all, painting them is REALLY hard! Third of all, I had to make the blue jar twice, since my baby sister got in my room and chewed up the first jar, thinking it was candy. It wasn't.

AND fourth of all, most importantly, everyone knows all colors come from the three main ones: Red, Yellow, and Blue. Those three make up every color. Okay, so maybe not EVERYONE knows all colors come from the three main ones, but I DO, and I decided to make only those three. And now you know.

Step 10: APRONS!!!

WARNING: I am not exactly the best at sewing, so if you REALLY want to know how to sew anything, you should definitely NOT look here. I suggest JudeSewsSpunk AKA Threadhead Jude on Instructables. She's great :) Also, I did not do hemming, so be warned of cloth strings sticking out. Gosh, I'm awful.

I gave up sewing because I found it nearly impossible, and I did embroidery for a while, which wasn't too bad, and found that hand-sewing these cuties, was just like embroidery. But the back is awful. I even took a pic to show you.

I cut out a tall rectangle measuring: 9 1/2cm long and 5cm wide. For the ties, I cut two strips measuring 6cm long, and 1/2cm wide. For the neck...hoop...thing. Experts, help me on this in the comments below, because I honestly don't know what it's called. Well, for the thing you put around your neck, it measures 6 1/2cm long, and 1/2cm wide. For the cute little pocket, it measures 4cm on all sides. I mean, it's a square.

Place the square on the right side, and sew it on from the back. Then place the ties on the wrong side and sew them on from the back. Then place the thing you put around your neck, on the wrong side and sew it on from the back. Once you've got all that done, you can splatter the paint over, making the three aprons look like they've been used before.

Step 11: The Apron Hanger, and the Tables

The apron hanger is a rectangle of cardboard measuring 12cm long, and 4cm wide. Once you have that cut, take three thumbtacks and mentally divide the cardboard into 3 spaces. Place a thumbtack in each space, and surround them with glue.

The tables are squares of cardboard with paper over, measuring 4 1/2cm on all sides, and they're glued to a single Lincoln Log. Maybe Lincoln Logs are obsolete, I don't know, but if they are, you can use any other wood piece or even a toilet paper roll...tube. Yeah.

Finally, you can glue your items on. I chose different items for the tables, so it looks like different artists were working with different materials. The jar with the paintbrushes is for an artist who likes to use different strokes. There are many different paintbrushes you know. Some for clean, thin strokes, some for fuzzy strokes, some for--let's not get into this, huh?

I glued the sponge, a palette, and the paintbrush jar on one table, and the three paint jars and a palette on the other. Don't worry about the artist without the paintbrush jar not having a paintbrush to work with; the easels have paintbrushes on them already.

Step 12: Piece of Art No. 1: Rainbow Flowers

First, make a canvass measuring 25cm long, and 7cm wide. I found it difficult to divide the canvass into seven, one for each of the colors of the rainbow, but somehow managed to. I forgot how, though, so I apologize.

Once it was nicely divided, I drew the flowers I made in my previous Instructable, "ROY G. BIV-Styled Flower Shop Diorama". Rose, Gerbera Daisy, Black-Eyed Susan, Hellebore, Forget-Me-Not, Baptisia Australis, and the common Morning Glory. Then I just painted them.

Step 13: Piece of Art No. 2: Rainbow Tornado

I seriously have no idea where I came up with this. But I did, and I LIKE it!

I made another canvass about 12 1/2cm long, and 6cm wide. I literally made a whole bunch of swirls; wide on the top and shrinking as they proceed farther down. I think it looks great though.

Step 14: Putting Everything in Place & Final Touches

This wasn't too difficult since I had already pictured it all in my mind even before I made a single piece of this project.

The first easel is glued to the farthest corner, with the paintbrush jar table beside it. The apron hanger and the aprons are glued in front of the first easel. The second easel is glued in front of the aprons, with the paint jars table beside it. I glued the three blank canvasses on the floor, leaning against the opposite wall.

I wrote some words on the top, saying "EXPRESS Your Thoughts." It's a good encouragement. Also, "Express" has seven letters in it, which is just the right amount, since I could put one letter for each color of the rainbow. The "p" isn't too visible, but I later on used a black marker to outline the "p". I just didn't feel like taking a pic of that minor change. Just so you know.

Don't ask me why I put an art gallery next to a painting class. I just did. Actually, DO ask me, because then I'll get more comments! Though I wouldn't really have an answer...

Step 15: You May Never Make This, But That's Okay.

This Instructable was inspired by Bob Ross, whom my mom would put on when I was a little kid. I was always fascinated by all he knew about art, and he made it seem like your world could be put inside his paintings, and you would forever be content. His "Happy little" everything always brought a smile to my face. This may not look like a painting class at all (minus the art gallery--that was all me), but everything I know about painting and art, is all thanks to Bob Ross. May he rest in peace.