Last Updated: Mar 1, 2018 You don’t have to be an art student or famous painter to create beautiful wall art. Canvas painting is truly for all skill levels and the supply list is short too. From beach scenes to abstract designs, you can create pieces that look chic and professional.
To get you started, we’ve compiled 39 DIY canvas painting ideas. Look through the photos to determine which ones match the style of your room and home. Find inspiration to create your own masterpiece. Transform your canvas painting into a professional work of art.
This unique wall art you’ve created will be a stunning addition to your home’s wall decor. Abstract Quote Canvas.
Canvas window awnings are used to keep the sun and dirt from the window. The use of awnings can lower your cooling bill by not allowing direct sunlight to shine through the window in the summer. Sometimes the awnings tear and need repair. Repairing the awning is easy to do and cost effective. You can make a simple repair in a matter of minutes with the right materials. Step 1 - Inspect the Canvas Get up on the ladder and take a look at the tear or hole in the canvas.
Gently try pulling the tear or hole further to see if it easily rips. If it does, you will need to buy a new awning. If it does not tear further you can continue the repair. Wipe down the canvas with a damp cloth on the inside and out to remove loose dirt. Then wipe down with a dry cloth and let it dry for a few minutes. Step 2 - Cut Patch Cut the canvas patch to the side of the hole.
If it is a long tear, cut the canvas in a rectangle shape. If it is a circular hole or other shape, cut the canvas in a square shape. Make sure you cut the canvas patch so the edge is extended about 1/2-inch from the tear or hole.
This will allow room for glue. Step 3 - Glue Patch Apply vinyl repair glue to the outer perimeter of the patch. Place the patch on the inside of the canvas.
Use one hand over the patch on the inside of the awning and the other hand on the other side of the canvas to press firmly. Let the glue dry according to the directions. It is best to apply the glue in good weather because you don't want the newly repaired canvas getting rained on. Step 4 - Paint Canvas You probably couldn't find the same pattern canvas material as your window canvas, so it needs to be painted.
Use acrylic paint that matches the colors on the awning as close as possible. If it is multiple colors make sure you buy all the colors needed.
Using your paint brush, apply the paint to the outside of the canvas on the patch. Paint the patch the same as the pattern. If the canvas is striped, continue the stripe. If the placement of the awning is a high traffic area where others will walk under it, you may want to paint the inside of the patch as well so it blends better. Let the paint dry according to directions. Step 5 - Waterproof Patch Make sure that all loose dirt has been removed from the canvas again.
You will want to waterproof the patch area of the canvas to protect it from the weather and keep the paint looking fresh. Solidworks 2012 32 bit with crack. Even if you have previously waterproofed the canvas, you can redo it now. Use the water repellent spray all over the inside and outside of the canvas.
Waterproofing your canvas will make it last longer.
By Dan dos Santos Just last night, I was putting the finishes touches on the underdrawing for my next painting commission. As I stepped away from my table to inspect my work, I accidentally tipped my portable drawing board over, knocking it, along with my painting, and a glass of water, onto the hard floor below. The whole thing came crashing down in a mess of water and broken glass. I cringed not knowing what I was going to find beneath when I lifted my drawing board off the floor.
Luckily, the damage to my painting surface was minimal. Just a few gouges here and there where the glass impaled the surface. (My real fear was that I had bent the surface in half, a MUCH more difficult repair.) Weirdly, this has happened to me enough that I didn't freak out.
Fixing a gouge like this is a relatively simple process and I've done it more times than I can count. I figured this would be a nice opportunity to share with you how to repair scrapes and gouges in a painting surface. This method will work on pretty much any common painting surface other than canvas, be it wood or illustration board. Using that same palette knife, smooth out the surface. This is the part that takes some finesse. The tendency is to want to really scrape as hard possible, but doing so tends to leave you with a divot. Try to drag the knife across the surface very gently.
You don't need to push down on it, the weight of the palette knife itself is more than enough pressure. When you're done, leave it alone. Don't fuss with it too much. It's better to have too much paste left on the surface than too little. And don't fill just the holes, try to leave some paste covering the surrounding areas as well (think of it like a band-aid).
And that's it! Easy, right?! Above you can see the repaired board. The surface is smooth and strong again, and just as absorbent as it was before. The only real difference would be a lack of flexibility in that area. If I bend the board too much in that spot, the repair may crack. Once I begin to paint on this surface, the damaged area should be completely undetectable.
If I had already begun painting prior to the damage, I would simply need to repaint the affected area as it was before. You'd be surprised at just how extensive of a repair you can pull off with quality paper, primer and modeling paste. I've actually cut out whole sections of paintings before, inserted new board into the gaps, and filled in the seams. The next time disaster strikes, I'll be sure to document it for you.;).
A staple of Annie Leibovitz’s Vanity Fair photos is her use of premium hand-painted canvas backdrops. It seems like such a simple thing. By putting a backdrop on a set or on location, it changes the real estate of the image. There is a thick and tasteful texture to the backdrops. It’s subtle and it sure is a far cry from your vignetted and cliched backdrops. In continuation of our series, we explore the use of these backdrops in photography.
Two companies have really cornered the high quality canvas backdrop market, based in New York and based throughout the world. Both have an impressive stock of already-painted canvases.
Both do custom work. Both business models are based on rentals rather than sales.
How To Repair Canvas
Single day rates for starts from $250 (for a 10′ by 12′) all the way to $900 (for a 30′ by 50′), along with a 20% off student discount. Are more expensive but the rental period is for up to 3 days. Prices start at $310 for students, $335 for editorial shoots, and $440 for print advertising and catalogues. All of these prices do not include shipping and I’m guessing those would be quite hefty. Painted canvases are large and heavy!
Since the rental rates really aren’t economically sustainable for solo photographers or small studios to use on a continuous basis, the financially prudent thing would be to either (1) invest in one of their works of art or (2) recreate one of your own. To outright purchase one of their canvases, you’d have to inquire about their sale prices. They do not list their prices (red flag for “if you have to ask you can’t afford it”).
By their rental rates, I estimate their purchase prices are well into the four digits range. They are so prized, when she bought her own Oliphant. The reaction is understandable and the business model makes sense. It takes forever to make one of these, why would you sell them when you can keep making money off of them? This leaves us with the second option, creating our own Oliphant or Schmidli style backdrop.
There are a handful of websites out there that tries to detail a how-to. This one backdrop. Then this one is which is and doesn’t have the same matte texture. The problem is, most DIY-ers are not painters or mural artists. They were experimenting. Here at iLHP, if we want to do something, we do it right.
How To Patch Canvas On A Pop-up Camper
I’m not going to tell you we did the canvases for $47. They were not cheap.
But they are also affordable enough for mere mortals when compared to the Oliphant and Schmidli backdrops, which are really geared towards large studios and ad agencies. So here at iLHP, we commissioned a highly regarded LA mural artist to paint a backdrop for us and walk us through the process step by step. The Mural Artist A hand painted mural on the side of a 23-story building. A perk of living in LA is the city’s wealth of creative talent. We had the honor of working with, a mural artist, set designer, and street artist extraordinaire.
By day, he hand paints ultra realistic movie ads onto the side of 23-story buildings (see the below video). youtube By night, he is a well respected member of the vibrant underground street art scene here in LA. His work can be seen throughout Southern California including at records, at studios, and commissions by the LA Lakers. Tony Tee at work during the Bloomberg interview. The Supplies Most of our paint was from Nova Paint Shop, here in LA. The colors are keyed to their colors list. This supplies list is roughly the minimum of what you need for a dark gray Oliphant or Schmidli style backdrop.
Our commission was actually for two backdrops so I modified our original supplies list down to what is needed for one canvas (e.g. We used Medium Purple on both canvases). The paint is acrylic paint. We mostly used here in LA.
They sell online and they also have a store in Culver City (M-F 8:30-4:30). Best of all, they are extremely helpful over the phone. Gesso White is the “primer” needed to prep raw canvas (if you bought primed canvas, which are super expensive, you can omit this).
Acrylic Retarder is an agent that slows down the drying time of acrylic, which helps the artist to manipulate the paint while its on the canvas. Home Depot supplies should costs close to another $100. What was not included in the list were things like regular paint rollers, rollers handles, long roller handles, various sizes of buckets for mixing paint, painters masking tape, and butcher’s paper for storage. Tony had some of those on hand already. The canvas can be cotton canvas or linen canvas. Tony prefers linen canvas and there are, but we only managed to find cotton canvas for the size we wanted. We purchased my 8′ by 15′ and 8′ by 12′ raw cotton canvases from for $13.99 a yard (1 yard = 3 feet).
They had the size and the length we wanted, plus they were one of the more affordable options in LA. Your experiences may differ. Canvases also come in raw or primed.
Primed canvases saves you the trouble of gesso-ing it for painting. However, primed canvases are exceedingly expensive and they usually come pre-stretched on a wooden frame. The raw cotton canvas cost me around another $100. Linen canvas will be more expensive. Try to find a piece of canvas that is free of creases and wrinkles.
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If your canvas does have creases, do not iron them with a regular iron. This will warp the canvas (learned this the hard way). I would try using a steamer, even then, don’t stay on one patch for too long or the canvas will stretch unevenly and warp. It is best to find a piece of smooth canvas that was tightly rolled onto the tube. Lastly, you’ll need a large enclosed space to paint your canvas. The folks at was kind enough to let us to use their industrial sized refrigerator as a studio space.
How To Patch A Canvas Painting
All in all, the supplies alone needed for one 8′ by 15′ canvas should cost just over $400. The Prep Begin by getting yourself a large cup of coffee because this thing’s going to take all day (or two). Start by covering your floor with the Painter’s Plastic for easy cleanup later on. Make sure you sweep the floor so there are no hard objects underneath the canvas. Change into old clothes and shoes because you will get paint on yourself. The canvas will require 3 coats of Gesso White. Start with a 60% water/40% Gesso mixture for the first coat.
Then reverse that into a 40% water/60% Gesso for the subsequent two coats. Always wait for the last layer to dry before applying the next layer. Make sure you cover the canvas evenly. The purpose of the Gesso is so that paint can be layered on top of this chemical rather than be soaked up by the cotton fabric.
A long roller handle will save your lower back. Next comes the base coats. Here, you want to coat the entire gesso-ed canvas with a dark paint.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be the final paint color you are looking for. We used a mixture of black and Medium Purple on the first day because we weren’t sure if we had enough black paint (we ended up getting more at another nearby store).
Again, apply 3 coats of dark base paint to cover up that Gesso White. Prevent hard lines of paint by using long and smooth brush strokes that coats the canvas evenly without clumping or unevenness. Always wait for the last layer to dry before applying the next layer. There’s no reason to use a small roller brush. We did so here only because we didn’t have enough 9″ roller brushes on hand so we had to settle for a 4″. A larger roller would save a lot of time.
He started with random brush strokes on the first coat just to cover up the white, and then he finished off the two other coats with smooth long brush strokes for an even base coat. It’s not an exact science really, but you want to have a nice smooth finish to work with later on.
Lastly, a fan would significantly shorten the drying time between coats. Paint in sections and move the fan to dry in sections as you go along. Do not step onto the canvas with your shoes.
Just wear socks. Try not to step onto the canvas until the layer is completely dry. The Fun Part Next comes the actual top coats. Tony chose to hang up the 8′ by 15′ canvas via self tapping metal screws screwed directly into the aluminum panels of the refrigerator. He wanted to do the texture work while it was hung up so he could see better. But in hindsight, he said he should have done it while it was still on the ground because it was a three man job and lot of work just to get the canvas up that high.
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But the man is an absolute professional and a perfectionist. Tony mixed two batches of paint. One batch as the dark coat and another much lighter batch as the texture coat. He used blacks, grays, whites and the Acrylic Retarder (to slow drying time so he could manipulate the paint). This step is more art than science so you will have to figure out the shade you want.
Start with a small patch of the canvas and test it there. Acrylic paint applies darker and drys up lighter. Wait for the test patch to dry and take a photo of the canvas with a diffused or bounced flash (not direct hard flash). The colors will look different on camera than through the naked eye. Do not add more than the recommended 15% Acrylic Retarder to the mixture. Any more and it will add a yellowish tint to the final product. We learned that the hard way.
Next, coat 2 layers of the dark coat onto the canvas. Because we were going for the smooth type of Oliphant/Schmidli look, apply the paint in long and smooth brush strokes. Always wait for the first layer to dry before applying the second layer. If you want different textures, you can try mixing up the brush strokes. Next, while the second layer was still wet, he used a sponge to rub on the lighter texture coat. He used a swirling pattern to create random textures. Note how much white is in this lighter texture coat.
Before the swirls dried, he used the 5′ flat brush to dry brush the swirls into a smooth consistency. This takes some finesse and skill but this was his favorite part of the whole project.
The brushes sometimes left hard lines on the drying paint, so he used painters rags and/or a clean damp sponge to remove any hard lines. The Finished Product After we let the canvas sit for an entire day, we were ready to inspect the results. We are extremely happy with the backdrop. We wanted a dark but subtly textured surface that we can manipulate with photography lighting. We chose a darker shade because it is easier to lighten up a dark background with flash than to darken a light background. A closeup of the prepared canvas shows a rich yet understated texture of grays and blacks. As a photographer, you can control the contrast, glare, and tint of the backdrop by using diffuse/hard light, angle of the lighting, and colored gels.
Total labor time was close to 20 hours for two pieces of canvas, one 8′ by 15′ and one 8′ by 12′. We made some mistakes and changes along the way but it’s always a process. It makes sense to do more than one at a time because the prep work needed for one justifies doing at least two at the same time. I estimate that doing gray one pictured here by itself would still take over 15 hours. Overall, we are extremely satisfied with the way the canvas had turned out. Storage and Care The canvas should always be rolled and never folded.
This will ensure the paint won’t crack over time and no creases will form. Either use the cardboard tube that the canvas came with or a 3″ PVC pipe will do. In order to roll the canvas, place the canvas painted face up on the ground. Make sure the floor is swept clean. Cover the painted face with butcher’s paper.
Tape up the butcher’s paper. Then use painter’s tape to tape the back of the canvas to the cardbord/PVC tube. Roll it up tightly and slowly. Once rolled up, tape up the end to the back of itself.
Oliphant provides on the care and hanging of canvas backdrops. Do not step onto the painted canvas with dirty shoes. Ask your models to thoroughly dust off their heels or shoes before gently stepping onto the backdrop. Make sure you know which end you’ll use as the background and which end you’ll use as the floor so as to always keep one portion of the backdrop clean. Conclusions To properly recreate an Oliphant or Schmidli style backdrop will require at least $400 in supplies alone. Furthermore, you’ll need adequate studio space to prep, paint, and dry the canvas. It’s understandable why these premium canvas backdrops costs so much, but with some patience and elbow grease, it is possible to do-it-yourself.
But maybe it’s better to hire Tony to do it for you. In, we shoot with our Tony backdrops and give you an insight on hanging, photographing, and working with them. If you would like to commission Tony to paint a backdrop, please email me at for a referral.
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