Large Canvas Painting – Diy tutorial

Here is an idea how to quickly paint a very large canvas, if you want to decorate your space in an inexpensive way and also create something the fits your chromatic taste and speaks to you.

I used a big canvas (1.2 m x 1 m) which FriBoy had been scribbling on with paint. I had bought it for a large figurative painting but never found the time to put that idea to practice. I needed a quick fix, so I used the squeegee again.

I still wanted to do a figure and since we’re huge fans of the Raving Rabbids, I painted a huge Raving Rabbid. I traced the outline and applied artist’s tape along the edges to avoid painting over the background.

Then proceed to pouring or dribbling paint onto the canvas and spreading it with the window squeegee. I used Amsterdam acrylics. I started with the rabbid because I wanted to choose the colors for the background depending on the result I obtained on the main character.

FriBoy joined me for a little while but lost interest quickly because he doesn’t like to repeat activities once he feels he has mastered a technique. I’ve been painting with him since he was a baby, at first he was into mixing colors like all kids, and later he demanded more and more challenging stuff. He needs novelty and challenge to keep him interested in artsy activities. It might be the age, but my feeling is that painting is not really his thing. If you are innately passionate about something you can tolerate a certain level of routine and repetitiveness, even as a child. When I was a kid, I would spend hours drawing and coloring and it never seemed boring. And apparently I never outgrew this.

Once the rabbid was covered, I did the background with the same technique.

I could have left it like this but it seemed too dull, so I removed the tape and added some more details. I outlined it with a flat brush, made some spots with a round sponge dipped in paint and wrote on the canvas with a black sharpie. You can use a regular kitchen sponge. For the sharpie I had a black Faber Castell B tip artist pen.

I left the space where I had applied the tape untouched to remind me of a certain little artist who had played there before me. I like how some of his scribbles can be seen through mine. I sealed it with a coat of Windsor & Newton  gloss varnish to protect the colors and add a bit of shine.

This painting took two hours to make. Have fun and Bwwaaaaa bwaaaa!