Spray Paint Canvas

So, I probably wouldn't consider myself overly creative or a DIYer. What I would consider myself, however, is a perfectionist. Quite frankly, I'm not so sure those two go together, simply for the fact that in my experience being a perfectionist is enough to drive a DIYer insane. This blog for example, at times, has made me use some unforgiving words; all because of the darn formatting. I hate that the title image is on the left and can't be in the center. I hate how sometimes the pictures are not aligned exactly to the tee. These are all fixes I know could be made if I taught myself html coding or paid for a blog host. Needless to say, I'm cheap and my brain hasn't found it absolutely necessary to teach itself html coding (but yet it finds it absolutely necessary to never miss an episode of Suits or Teen Wolf [shh...I know, Teen Wolf?! MTV?! Guilty pleasures, my friend. Guilty pleasures]).

So, I saw this on pintrest months ago and was never able to actually trace it back to its original link.  My original thought was: this seems like it requires a minimal amount of supplies, even less effort, and has a desirable outcome. Perfect for me. And honestly, all those things are true. The supplies needed are minimal and cheap. The hardest part was choosing which leaves/branches from my yard I wanted to use (I'm not only a perfectionist, but an indecisive one at that!). The outcome, ok, less than desirable. But, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? I'd still probably hang these in some remote place in my house.

Anyway, I now present you with.......whatever the heck you want to call these. I'm sure there is a name for this technique, I just don't know it.

As I said, minimal items needed for this project. A blank canvas (I got 2 8x10 canvases for 4 bucks at Walmart), double sided tape and spray paint (which I already had on hand). Then things like newspaper and an outside space. Spray painting inside just doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

First thing first, spray a bottom layer of paint onto your canvas. I found it better if you stay quite a distance away from the canvas, that way you don't get splotches of heavy paint. Also, a swooping type motion gives this effect (sort of looks cloudy).

Next, lay down your leaves or object of choice in whatever fashion you want. If you have larger heavier objects it is not necessary to tape them down. However, I found that for leaves double sided tape was necessary to hold them down so that the pressure from the spray paint does not cause them to blow in all sorts of directions. I had to tape down every little leaf. So, you might want to second guess tiny items that are fragile when choosing your object. Plus, as I said I'm a perfectionist, so every leaf had to be just so.

After the bottom layer has dried and you've placed your object how you want it. Spray it with your top coat. Since I used the darker blue on the bottom, I really had to spray on a lot of the yellow. I did the reverse of this color combination (yellow bottom coat, blue top coat), and I like it much better.

After the paint dries, just remove your leaves or object and you get these fabulous mediocre works of art ;). Honestly, I'm sure the next go around (with prettier paint colors) I had with these would turn out much better, and someone could easily make them look fantastic. Just like in the original pintrest pin I saw.  So, I really do suggest you give them a shot, and let me know how they turn out. Good luck!

As my artsy cousin would say, "The beauty is in the imperfection." To which I say, "Oh shut up, no one asked for your opinion anyway."