Painting Tips for Painting Your Own Artwork

Don't get your hopes up.  If you have ever taken art before, even if it was in jr. high, you probably know more about painting than me.  I do a lot of creative things but I'm not a great artist.  However, I believe anyone can make their own artwork and can paint beautiful things if they want to.  So here are a few easy tips to help.

 1) Pick your paints.  They don't have to be expensive or even from a special art store.  I usually use the apple barrel paints from Hobby Lobby that are like .50 a jar.  Today, I'm using some paint from Target that I got for Cason but I love it so much (because it shimmers) that I wanted to use it for this project.

 2) Pick your colors.  Paint your whole background.  

Don't try and paint detail and background at the same time.  

I choose 2 colors of blue for the background with a hint of green.

So that's part of tip 2.  Pick up more than one color of paint with your brush and use big strokes.  Solid even color- not good... at least not for this!

3) Once that dries.  Use chalk to draw your main image.  It doesn't have to be this simple but simple is easy!  Also, off center is better.  It is easier because you don't have to be perfect- plus it looks like you put extra thought into it.  You thought so much about it that you made it off center to make other people think more.  Awesome.

 4) Paint your main image- again using 2 different colors on your paintbrush at a time.  It really helps make the art look dimensional.  When it's dry you can wipe the chalk off as if it never existed.

 

5) I wanted to add another layer to the painting- text.  Text is hard because it's hard to get a smooth line with paint.  I wrote the words in chalk and used a tiny paintbrush and carefully wrote everything in.  It's not perfect but it's real.

And here's the finished piece.  It's personal and it's homemade and you can do it too!  

So if you make awesome things please pass on this tutorial.  Hopefully, it will inspire you just a little to start making your own artwork and saving a little $$ in the process.