DIY Art
One thing my house is seriously lacking is art work. And it’s not for lack of trying. I have a ton of frames, but most are empty and just waiting for a pretty/inspiring/moving/thought provoking piece of art to be placed in them. But more often than not, art pieces of that caliber are generally not in my budget. Which is why I decided to try my hand at some DIY art.
On my “Art I would Put on My Walls” board on Pinterest, I have included a few pins that I thought would be easy to duplicate, even with my very limited art skills. Then, a few days ago while watching a marathon of Castle episodes, my daughter and I sat down to create a few of our own masterpieces. (Reminder: You can click on the picture to be taken to the original website. Also, remember, if you are going to pin their work, please pin from their page)
This first pin was actually linked back to Annie Flynn’sย Etsy site. I fell in love with the soft colors and how soft and light it felt.
Well, I have mentioned a couple of times that I am not an artist right? It started out with the best of intentions, but ended up like this once I messed up too many times. After layer upon layer of paint, trying to paint over my mistakes, I ended up with a dark blue canvas. So, I just went with it.
First I added the white hydrangeas, but the center looked lonely and bare, so I added a fish. Then two. And then it wasn’t hydrangeas anymore, more like some kind of water flower, I guess.
Me thinks that Annie Flynn doesn’t have to worry about me “copying” her work. ๐ By the way, she has some absolutely stunning works of art on her Etsy site, please check them out!
Same kind of thing happened here…
How amazing is that painting?! I want it. A lot. But there is no information on the painting, and at this point, I can’t even find the original post on the House of Fifty blog. This makes me sad. If you know who is the artist, please let me know!
Anyway, here is my sad, sad interpretation.
Are you laughing at me yet? ๐ I don’t know where the yellow background came from, but it makes it very “happy”.
My daughter found the cutest painting at a pottery painting place, took a picture and used it for her inspiration for our “Paint Night”. Here is the original.
And here is how her painting turned out. She is obviously much more talented than I am in this area ๐
I have a couple of old framed pictures from our old house, that didn’t match in both style and color in the new house. So for almost two years, they were moved around the house – we hung them up, took them down and moved them again. Finally, I had enough, so I decided to paint something on the print inside. Don’t worry, the original picture wasn’t anything special to begin with, so even though it turned out like this, I don’t feel even a little bit of remorse.
Yes, it was pretty terrible. I used some contact paper to cover it up, painted the frames glossy black and left it like that for now. No one will ever know. Except you. And you won’t tell anyone, right?
Next, I needed some art work for my niece’s bedroom, and I figured that these DIY paintings that I found would be easy enough for even me not to mess up.
Please note: the picture below came from a pin that I originally pinned without clicking on it to go to the original page. It was spam. I can not find the original blog or website, as every pin I’ve found of this painting leads back to a spam website. Please – check your sources on pins you re-pin. Too many projects from legitimate blogs are being used by these websites without proper credit or links back to the original site. If you know whose painting this was, please let me know so I can link properly back to their site! Thanks! UPDATE: You guys rock! After getting the correct website from some of you, I’ve updated the link on this picture to take you to the correct place – Murray Design Shop. Check out her sweet comment below – she gives a good tip on painting lines!
So, here are mine…
They didn’t turn out like I envisioned, but that’s because it is HARD to paint straight, THIN lines for the stems. As you can see on the second one, I tried to use a sharpie to make the stems, but they just look anorexic.
All this… well, I don’t want to say failure… makes me appreciate how talented artists are. Even if we see something as “easy” as circles on sticks, it takes skills and practice to make them a thing of beauty. But I enjoy the act of painting, so I’ll keep trying.
So, that’s all the painting/artwork we’ve tried so far. But, do you remember these frames I picked up at the thrift store for $0.50 a piece?
A quick cleaning and some spray paint, along with some prints from Ikea, made them much more up to date and perfect for a little girl’s big-girl room!
So, tell me… have you tried any DIY paintings or artwork that you found on Pinterest? Do you too look at paintings and think, “heck, I could do that!”? Tell me about it, or send me some pictures of your artwork! I’d love to share them.
Have a great ย weekend!
Thanks for stopping by!
Eliesa
Sheryl says
I enjoyed this post immensely. My 13 year old son and I both laughed while reading your descriptions and appreciated your artistic renderings. He especially liked the addition of fish to your painting and your daughter’s owl. We will have to do some paintings of our own this summer and hope to have as much fun with it as you have. I did a Google search on the painting you were wondering about and found at . Thanks for sharing!
Sunny says
Nope-tried painting in oils and watercolors…mine were HORRIBLE. I’m a Photographer and I use my photos for my artwork….(I have a blog dedicated to posting them….)They’re mostly landscapes, sky scapes and nature photos tho….I do have a few surprise shots in there…like “Red Hot Nights” that I’m going to enlarge and hang in our master bedroom.
I’m doing our livingroom in a cinema-ish theme and am hanging Movie Posters in there to go with our Cinema seating sofa and big screen TV. All I need is the popcorn machine and to hang the posters to finish it off….Oh, and a huge red rug. ๐
My husband, on the other hand, is a fantastic artist and did a couple of canvases he gave to my mom and his mom. They looked like something straight from Bob Ross!!! Both mums hung them proudly in their houses….and not on the fridge doors! ๐
Talented Devil!!!!
Loved your ideas!!!
kirbycarespodi says
Again—LOVING the new format! I think you have something here!
Laura Ontiveros says
I love your goldfish paint!
A Pinterest Addict says
Thank you ๐
Min says
you might think your painting is bad, but I think they look great! especially the blue leaves in pot. Art is very subjective; much like beauty. What other people think is not pretty, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t to you. ๐
A Pinterest Addict says
Aww..Thanks so much, Min! You just made my day! I just think it’s funny how much it DIDN’T end up looking like my inspiration piece.
rosyrobey says
I found the yellow and gray art at MurrayDesignShop on Etsy. https://www.etsy.com/listing/99249374/yellow-gray-and-white-textured-flower?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share
A Pinterest Addict says
Awesome! Thanks!
Kayla fernandez says
For the stems on the circle painting you could also try using an old credit card or store card. Dip the edge in paint and then just use it to make the lines going down. Im not sure how well it would work but it could potentially make future art a little easier.
A Pinterest Addict says
That’s a good idea! I will have to try that sometime. The girls love to paint, so we will use that next time we break out the art stuff ๐
Amie Murrray says
Hi there! I found your awesome site when I noticed a jump in traffic on my Etsy site coming from here. I’m Amie, from murraydesignshop.etsy.com ๐
Sad to learn my painting has been spammed up on Pinterest, but thanks so much for adding it your blog. I’m beyond flattered.
I have to tell you, when I first started painting these textured circle flowers I thought I should probably tape off each line to make them perfectly straight. Ha! I would have lost my mind. Honestly, I don’t worry about each line being perfect… it adds more character if they aren’t. Over time {and probably thousands of those lines} they have gotten straighter. One thing that helps me is to paint the line fast, when I slow down I wiggle more! Also, I thin the paint just a touch if it seems thick and I use a damp thin brush. There are also some great mediums, and acrylic modeling pastes out there that you can add to your paint to thicken it up for lots of texture on the circles.
Paint on my friend! Your work is lovely ๐
Pam says
I love this…and love your work!
Carol Shapiro says
I’m also trying to find inspiration from artist. I have a burning desire to paint. Glad I found this so as not to expect to duplicate someone else’s work. I love your renditions, you have inspired me to have the courage to just do it..
A Pinterest Addict says
Trying all of these (and the many more I have not posted) has made me appreciate the skill it takes. BUT, more than that, it’s been fun and relaxing to try. I hope you share your work with me one day!
Shumi says
Would love to try the circle flower art. How can i achieve the circle flowers please? Is there a technique? Thank you