DIY Contemporary Art Project for Home Décor

Do you have an expanse of blank wall that begs for big, bold, contemporary art work to be displayed on it, but finding the right art pieces at an affordable price has eluded you? Then follow these easy step by step instructions to create unique and affordable art that's a perfect fit for your home décor.

Materials Needed for DIY Art Project

*Pre-stretched canvases
*Matte acrylic medium
*Acrylic paint in tubes or jars (2-3 of your choice of bold colors)
*Paint brushes
*Pencil
*Yardstick
*Masking tape
*Newspaper
**Chose canvases that are 1 ½ inches thick with fabric that wraps around the sides of the frame and edges secured to the back of the frame. Separate frames are not needed to mount these type of canvases into when the DIY art project is completed.

Newspaper and Primer

Cover work surface with old newspaper. Lay out canvases and brush on a coat of acrylic medium to the front and sides of each stretched canvas, and let dry. The acrylic medium acts like a paint primer so the canvas fabric is less absorbent and easier to cover with paint.

Bold Color

To create the bold contemporary color for the DIY art project, brush your bold paint color choice over the entire canvas, front and sides. Let paint dry. Continue re-applying the paint until the color looks completely opaque when dry.

Create Contemporary Stripe

When the canvases have reached the desired shade of color and all paint layers have dried, it's time to create the contemporary stripe. Place the yardstick parallel to one side of each canvas, about 3-4 inches away from the canvas edge. Play with the placement and width of the stripe by moving the yardstick around on the canvases. Once you have decided stripe placement and width on each canvas, mark a straight line using the yardstick and pencil. Make sure to continue the stripe onto the sides of the canvases.

Apply a piece of masking tape along the outside of each pencil line so the entire length of the stripe is bordered by masking tape. Press the tape down firmly and apply a light coat of acrylic medium to the stripe and tape edges.

When the acrylic medium has dried, fill in the stripe with a different bold paint color. Repeat the paint application until the stripe looks completely opaque, allowing the paint to dry thoroughly between each coat. When the final paint coat has dried, carefully peel away the masking tape. Hang and enjoy your DIY contemporary art work.