Make Your Own Artwork for Your Home

It's not hard to make your own artwork to display in your home. You don't need an art degree to grace your home with your own style and tastes. And it's a great opportunity to have some fun with the whole decorating process.

As a budding Picasso, your greatest friend is acrylic paints. Why? They dry fast, that's why. And because they are acrylic-based, you don't have to prepare your painting surface in any particular way. Acrylic clings to anything, after all! And acrylic paints can be easily washed out of brushes or off of your hands with water, which is another huge advantage to using them. Acrylic paints can be bought at your local art store for anywhere from approximately $3-$18 per tube, depending on which colors you buy. In addition to buying the paint, you should also buy some form of acrylic medium so you can thin the paint out and have better control over it. You can slow the drying speed down a bit if you want them to dry more slowly, and your local art store will also direct you to a suitable product for this, in addition to suitable brushes. By the way, when you work with these paints, it's a good idea to wear rubber gloves or other protective hand gear. Some of the pigments in both acrylic and oil paints are toxic and should be used with care. And after you're done painting with them, wash your hands as soon as possible.

If you're one of those people who worries about how your friends will judge the artwork you've made for your home, here are a few ideas for you. Buy a pre-stretched canvas from your local art store and draw a grid on it with a long ruler or straight edge, or draw parallel lines from either the top to bottom of the canvas or from left to right. Then just paint each section a different color with acrylic paints, with whichever colors you desire. (These can even match the color scheme for the room, for an interior decorating boost.) Let it dry (it shouldn't take longer than an hour), slap a hanging wire on the back of it, and up on the wall it goes. Another method would be to paint the whole canvas one particular color, then let it dry. Then cut out shapes on paper, trace them onto the painted canvas, and then fill them in with paint of a different color. Applying a base color for your canvas unifies the visual field as a whole.

If you are one of those very fashionable people who is seen at all the right clubs and restaurants, or you just love to cut up magazines and newspapers, consider venturing into the world of collage. Buy a pre-stretched canvas and some shellac and line up a bunch of your favorite images, either ones you've created yourself or cut out from magazines and/or newspapers. Found objects work well here, too, as long as they're relatively two-dimensional and can be glued on in some fashion. Glue the back of them to the canvas (try Elmer's Glue or Mod Podge), then apply a layer of shellac on top, if you want to hang onto your art project well into the future. (This is important because printed media is not always very stable - particularly newsprint, which is typically printed on cheap, fast-decaying paper.) If you leave enough room beneath each image on the canvas, you can write in your own commentary with indelible marker. If you want to unify the collage with a field of color, you can also paint the canvas first with your favorite color of acrylic paint, and then glue the images on top of that. A word of caution: try not to overwhelm the canvas with too many images or have too many overlapping images, unless you're trying to make some kind of artistic statement about sensory overload.

You can also have a lot of fun with magnetic paint and magnets. Mark off a large section of a wall, say 4' x 5', and fill it in with magnetic paint (you can get this at your local home supply or hardware store). Paint a design on top of it with house paint in a color (or colors) that suit you. Then get a ton of magnets and create your own ever-changing art piece. This is a great project for people with short attention spans! Take photos as your art project progresses, frame them, and you have a very cool display for a long hall in your home. There is a distinct possibility that this project could degenerate over time into a huge "Reminder Board," but maybe that's what you need in your life! Another danger with this project is that at your next dinner party, your guests will spend more time messing around with the magnets than engaging in witty banter with you. However, they will also remember your dinner party well into the future, and that's a bonus for you, even if they can't remember your witty banter.

By the way, children are natural artists, so if you are fortunate enough to have one or more of these in your home, by all means include them as part of the artistic process. The ego boost that kids get from participating in a family art piece cannot be underestimated, and their talent and creativity should be recognized.

Making art for your home is therapeutic and fun. In fact, I would like to see more fun in people's homes. You can start this revolution in your very own home! Be an art revolutionary! Make your own artwork for your home!

Source: Art school and personal experience