DIY Canvas Art

I wanted a painting for my newly decorated bathroom, but wanted to do something as cheap as possible. The problem is, I'm not much of a painter. I also wanted something that would look ok when mirrored, because it was going in a very small half bathroom and would be looked at in a mirror when someone is facing the sink.

I found some canvases on sale at Hobby Lobby, so I was able to get a pretty good deal on the canvas. I bought a few different colors of acrylic paint. I painted the entire canvas the main color.

1. Paint the canvas the main color with acrylic paint.

While the canvas dried, I filled 2 travel shampoo bottles halfway with the other 2 colors of acrylic paint. I then watered the paint down by adding a little water into the bottles and shaking to mix the paint and water together. 

2. Add acrylic paint to shampoo bottles and water down. Shake to mix

Once the canvas was dry, I placed the canvas in a cardboard box so that the paint could drip off of the canvas. I began by pouring the paint from one side of the canvas to the other. You can play around with the amount of paint you pour onto the canvas by pouring it thicker on one side and moving the bottle slowly, and then moving the bottle over more quickly for less paint in some areas.

3. Pour paint from shampoo bottle onto canvas. 

Add more paint in some areas for visual interest.

Wait for the paint to dry, then do the same with the second color.

4. Wait for the paint to dry, then add second color.

Again, wait for the paint to dry, then flip the canvas over so that the top is now the bottom. Then repeat the process with the shampoo bottles again. I accidentally splattered some of the paint onto the canvas once the bottles were getting close to being empty, and it ended up adding a neat effect to the painting.

5. Flip canvas over, then repeat steps 3 & 4.

Let the paint dry and enjoy your new abstract painting! I would love to try this out with some other colors and experimenting with different amounts of paint to drip. 

6. Let dry.

7. Enjoy!