Getting Started

I did it!  I’ve been watching and watching videos of other people painting, trying to figure out what they’re doing and how to create such beautiful art.  If I’m honest, I also was watching wishing that I too could make something like that.  I wasn’t sure where to start, but I knew that I needed a few things first.  I bought some canvases, new paint, Floetrol, plastic gloves, and I fished some thumbtacks out of my stash of office supplies.  

I cleared off my kids old craft table, and thought about how to handle the paint drippings.  In the garage, I found a few panels of wood my husband was going to throw away.  I grabbed 4 of them and taped them together with painting tape.  Then I covered the wood with a layer of aluminum non-stick foil.  The thumbtacks worked great on each corner on the backside of the canvas to elevate it off of the table.  This gave space for the paint to run off the edges of the canvas. 

After I attempted to mix my white paint with floetrol, I covered the canvas with it.  My technique was a bit half-hazard though, so it wasn’t a uniform thickness across the canvas.  I didn’t know any better until much later.  Then I used pre-mixed paint for pouring in a line over the white and attempted to blow it out with a straw.  

I actually made 3 this way.  It felt like I needed a little sparkle though, so I mixed and added some silver to the canvas.  What I realized was that the pre-mixed paint was too thick, and the silver I mixed was too thin.  It made it really hard to get the paint where I wanted it. Now I know that paints should always be tested for consistency with a drip test. 

What I learned the most out of the whole experience is that it’s trial and error.  Techniques can be learned, and as with anything, once you’ve tried this, you learn what works for you and how different supplies change the outcome and how to compensate if you do or don’t want it a certain way.  A growth mindset is key to something like this because until you’ve done it enough to make it predictable, it’s really easy to get frustrated.  

Give yourself some grace. Get out of your comfort zone, and try it!  If you feel like you messed up, just paint over it.