DIY Joint Compound + Paint Sample Canvas Art

By the time I finished picking a paint color for my little girl’s room I was left with a collection of paint samples that created a beautiful ombre color palette. I decided to combine a fun DIY art project I had seen floating around instagram, highlighted with my paint samples to create a one of a kind piece of art for our living room.

THE BEFORE

I thrifted this canvas from the local Habitat ReStore, picking it up because it already had some texture on it and was a good sized canvas. It’s cheaper to thrift canvases than to buy them new!
These were all of my paint samples left from choosing a color for my little girl’s room. I also used a few acrylic paints from an art set to create a few different shades.

Step 1: Cover The Canvas!

To start I used the lightest color and painted over the entire canvas. Then I began piling on the paint heavily to try to cover some of the texture that was there, in this case the flowers that I didn’t want to remain visible in the finished piece.

Step 2: Add Joint Compound Texture

Next I used a scraping blade to apply joint compound to create more texture, continue to cover the flowers, and to make my design. You can go totally abstract here. I’ve seen people use combs, sponges, etc… Whatever speaks to you. My texture turned into mountains and clouds.

Step 3: Paint to Add Dimension

I mixed some black and white acrylic paint with my paint samples to create some differing shades and tones, and then highlighted the texture to create dimension. I was left with a mountain range and fluffy clouds.

Step 4: Frame! (optional) + Hang

I used some leftover trim pieces from a wall moulding project to create a frame. It’s not the conventional type of frame for a canvas, but I like how it looks like the canvas is sitting down in it. I attached the wood trim pieces directly to the canvas frame.I love the texture and the neutral palette. It could work anywhere in our home! 

Materials:

• Canvas  (Art Supply or Thrift Store)
• Paint Samples  (Home Improvement Store)
• Acrylic Paint  (Art Supply Store or Amazon)
• Paint Brushes  (Art Supply Store or Amazon)
• Scraping Blade  (Home Improvement Store)
• Framing Material  (Home Improvement Store)
• Joint Compound  (Home Improvement Store)

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