How To Use Gesso For Texture

Art is an odd thing. It can have a while – years even – to find art that speaks to y'all. I fell in love with textured abstract fine art after seeing information technology on Pinterest, only it never occurred to me until recently that I could achieve the same expect without the hefty price tag of buying original textured art.

white-textured-canvas-art

This textured canvas is beautiful, simply goes for nigh $600

Later doing some research, I stumbled upon Gesso art which is what some artists use to create the textured canvas look, and eventually institute that using drywall mud/spackle could create a like look. I knew I wanted to endeavour out the drywall mud thing, but quite bluntly, I was feeling lazy most figuring out how to frame a canvass.

….Until I stumbled upon Phenomenon on 30 4th's IG stories a few weeks ago. She had the idea to go to Dwelling house Goods/TJMaxx and buy a framed canvas and paint over that. BRILLIANT. I considered going to a thrift store, but figured it would be easier to just go to Habitation Goods since their canvases are relatively cheap.

So I went to Dwelling house Goods and found this elementary gilt framed canvas for merely $24.99!

gold-framed-canvas

Here'southward everything y'all'll need to create textured sheet art (pssst – you lot may even already take some of these items in your home):

Drywall mud – a smaller tub is fine, which is less than $four at Home Depot/Lowe's.
A framed canvas – Try your local austerity shop or the clearance section at HG/TJMaxx/Marshalls, as most of their fine art is relatively inexpensive. The canvas I used was 26″x26″ and $24.99.
Drywall taping knife to employ the mud to the canvas. Mine was virtually $three.50
Palette knife ready for spreading the drywall around the canvas to create the texture yous want. I bought plastic ones in the fine art section at JoAnn for less than $five
Painter's tape to cover the edges of the frame. Usually around $half dozen per roll.
Paint brush – I use Wooster paint brushes, and the one I used for this project was $vii.89
Pigment color of choice to utilise over the drywall texture. Because you're using drywall mud, you can get away with chalk paint, acrylic or latex paint. Even a sample size or 2 of a color could piece of work, because this really doesn't require that much pigment! With a coupon, I paid $4.78 for this pigment from JoAnn.

Total price for this project: $57

Step ane:

Once yous have all the materials, lay your canvass on a protective apartment surface and tape the edges of the frame. Y'all don't desire to get paint or drywall mud on the frame or on your flooring/tabular array.

Step 2:

Using your drywall taping knife, start applying the drywall mud to the canvas in a thin layer and spread evenly to ensure the canvas (the original fine art) is completely covered. DON'T make the same mistake that I did and spread too much on at i fourth dimension. This will cause the canvas to cleft while information technology dries, which mine did. Just now I know for adjacent time 🙂

diy-how-to-create-textured-canvas-art

Step 3:

Once the entire sail is covered in a layer of drywall mud, use the knife to make whatsoever texture blueprint y'all desire. This took me about thirty minutes to do and I used this video to guide my palette pocketknife motions until I was happy with the canvas texture. I likewise took a step back and fabricated sure that it looked good from afar likewise.

There'south a express amount of time you can play around with the drywall until information technology starts to cure, and so keep that in heed when planning the time information technology volition take for you to consummate this pace.

I just want to say that I am not an artist. In fact, I've always sucked at creating "art." But I simply demand to say that this was Not hard at all! If I tin can do it, anyone can.

Anyway, hither's what my canvas looked similar after using unlike palette knifes to create texture:

diy-how-to-create-textured-canvas-art

Step 4:

One time information technology dries completely (usually after ~24 hours), take hold of your paint color of choice (I used this i from JoAnn) and simply start painting the canvas with your paint castor. Mine took near 1 hour to dry and I didn't need a second coat.

Simple as that!

And the final product (which I have yet to figure out where to hang in our home):