Spray Paint Your Way to a Work of Art.

Once you learn how easy it is to create simple paintings like
this forest scene, you'll be a devoted spray paint artist.  

Are you pressed for time getting your home ready for its first showings? Worried that your rooms lack some sparkle now that you’ve removed clutter and personal pictures?

Enter graffiti, I mean…spray art.

If there were a contest to determine the easiest way to pretty up walls for staging, the winner would be the paint that comes in pressurized cans.

Spray paint gives you the fastest and least expensive tool for making your own artwork.

It might be the most fun way, too. Select the surface -- cloth, wood, paper, foam core, cork, glass – cover parts of it with bits and pieces of whatever is handy, and spray away. You can get all fancy with the process, or keep it uncomplicated.

A stroll down the aisle of any paint department will show you that the colors available in spray paint are better than ever. At Michael’s you can get smaller cans for less than $3. If you do any DIY décor or crafts, you probably have some partial cans on hand already.

Here are some examples of various combinations I’ve had success with.    

Black Forest Scene. Cut a piece of foam core to fit inside a frame you have. Set the frame aside. Use masking tape to tape off a border on all four sides of the foam core. I made a 2-inch border all around, as you can see in the photo above. Spray a green base coat on the foam core. Use straight pins to anchor sprigs of evergreens or ferns. Spray brown or black to create the look of a forest. Remove greenery and masking tape border. Let dry, pop it into the frame -- with or  without glass -- and hang!

Gold Corkboard Art. Use masking tape to tape off the frame around a corkboard. Spray entire surface with gold paint. Use straight pins to anchor triangles (or any shape you like) cut from paint chips or card stock onto the cork.  Spray lightly with white paint. Carefully remove the paint chips and the tape from the frame. Done!
  

I added some pearls to the glitzy triangle painting, using straight pins to attach them
to the corkboard. Corkboard gives you a handy base for spray painting because it's
already framed, and it can return to being a corkboard (glamorized) after your home is sold. 

Drifts of Soft Colors. Tie 9- or 12-inch wide strips of tulle around primed canvas, and spray. Spray one or multiple colors in uneven "washes" across canvas until you are pleased with the look. Untie the tulle, add a frame you're finished. You can substitute any netting or lightweight stretch fabric  for the tulle. 



Step One.Your primed and tied canvas will look like this, ready for spray paint.



This is the same canvas, after it has been spray painted with two colors, and framed.


Angular Abstract. Collect at least four different widths of tape and four different spray paint colors. Apply stripes to the canvas with the most narrow tape (probably washi tape). Add more stripes with transparent tape, and then with masking tape, and finally with the widest the widest tape, probably duct tape. Spray one color and then carefully remove the duct tape. Spray another color, and then remove the masking tape. Spray a third color and remove the transparent tape. Finally, spray a fourth color and remove the washi tape. (Remove the tapes slowly so as not to pull up underlying tape.)  

Step One. Four different sized tapes will make this spray painting more interesting.
I glued a drop cloth onto a piece of foam core for my canvas.
After painting, I trimmed the ragged edges before framing 

Finished. After the tape comes off, your painting is complete. I discovered that
metallic paint  raised the nap of the canvas, which accounts for the  fuzzy texture.

 

Tips to success: Give spray art a few days to outgas in a ventilated area before hanging in your home, since they tend to smell chemically for awhile. Don’t worry if your spray paint should spit and spatter. It can be part of your design

Come back tomorrow for of tips on how to make a collage for your home, Day #8 in the 31 Day Challenge.