Looking for a fun and festive activity to do with your friends this spooky season? This post is for you!
Painting is great way to relax, unwind, have fun, and just de-stress! Seriously, a perfect study break during this school semester.
These 3 painting ideas are easy to follow and not too overwhelming or time consuming. Also, these pieces are my kind of classics. I don’t enjoy tacky halloween/fall decor, so these paintings give a good classy yet rustic vibe. It’s tasteful and timeless (for the season) — you won’t get tired of reusing these paintings as decor over the years.
1. The Old Weathered Barn by Bob Ross
I love Bob Ross. He may not have the most beginner paintings to start off with, but definitely makes painting a relaxing and stress-free activity. He really just puts the joy in The Joy of Painting. Hahaha 🙂
All I can say is that Bob Ross is the most wholesome person to have lived and he just has a way of making you feel special. Any stress or painting difficulties you have along the way will be alleviated by his wisdom. His tutorials are relatively easy to follow and you shouldn’t have too much difficulty with creating your own masterpiece.
The Old Weathered Barn is a perfect fall landscape and will look great on your walls this season! You can find the tutorial on Youtube under “Bob Ross – The Old Weathered Barn (Season 28 Episode 7)”.
2. Ouija Board
What better way to decorate your space for Halloween than with a spooky Ouija board? Couldn’t tell ya!
Now this DIY looks complicated and difficult, but I promise you it isn’t. I’ll break it down in a few steps and give you tips along the way!
For this painting, you’ll need:
- White chalk
- Black or brown acryclic paint
- White paint (acrylic or oil)
- 2 Flat brushes (one small and one large)
- Small Round brush
- Paper Plate
- Ruler (or any other flat edge)
LET’S GET STARTED!
Step 1: Use your large flat brush to paint your canvas either black or brown. Let it dry completely.
Step 2: Center the paper plate flat upside down on your canvas. This will be your guide. Using the white chalk, gently trace three lines: the first for “Ouija”, the second for the first half of the alphabet, and the third for the second half.
Make sure to start in the center and work outwards, dragging the plate to the left or right as needed. This will allow you to adjust how flat or slanted you want your letters to be.
Step 3: Outline! Using the line guide you just made, start blocking out where your letters are going to go with the chalk. Start with the letters in the center and then work out. Also draw out the basic shapes for the images you want in the four corners and any other details you would like to add.
Step 4: Using a ruler or any other flat edge, gently draw a horizontal line under the alphabet. Use the alphabet above as your guide. The line should approximately start from where “P” begins and end where “X” ends. Block out where you want the numbers to go. Start in the center and work outwards. Then use the numbers as a guide to block out where “Good Bye” will go so that everything is centered.
Step 5: Start painting! Using your white paint and your small flat brush, start tracing the letters you have already blocked out. Add the little details on the tips of the letters as you go. Don’t forget to paint the decals of your choice in the fours corners!
Step 6: Taking your small round brush and a small helping of black paint, start to add the shadows to the letters.
Step 7: Once it’s all dry, brush off the chalk using a clean, dry brush.
And that’s it! You are all done with this DIY!
3. Fall Flannel Pattern
Flannels are always going to be a fall fashion staple. I just don’t see it ever going out of fashion for this time of the year. Let me know of your thoughts in the comments, because I’m curious. Anyways, this design is all about bringing those beloved flannel patterns to a canvas with some paint.
For this painting, you’ll need:
- Painters tape (any width will do. I used 2” for this)
- 1 large flat brush
- A sponge
- White Paint (acrylic or oil)
- Colored Paint of your choice (acrylic or oil)
SHOULD I USE OIL PAINT OR ACRYLIC?
This is absolutely your preference! Acrylic paint is very easy to work with for a DIY like this because it drys fast. You’ll see why that’s important as you ready through the steps. Oil paint takes an eternity to dry but the texture that you can get from that paint is not replicable with acrylics. If you want your painting to have a texture that gives it some warmth and vintage vibes, go ahead with oil paint. Just beware that it does get tricky to work with.
LET’S GET STARTED!
Step 1: Create 4 shades of color using the white paint and the color of your choice. You are going to make a gradient of colors, so start off with a small amount of color and a lot of white. Mix it until you get a shade that you are happy with. Now, repeat this step for the next 3 colors, making them darker (aka using less white) as you work up to the fourth color. This should be the darkest shade.
Step 2: Using the large flat brush, paint your entire canvas with the lightest color. Let it dry completely.
Step 3: Start with your canvas in portrait. Take your painters tape and cut a piece that covers the length of the canvas from left to right, aka horizontally. Line that piece of tape with the top edge of your canvas, and press down gently.
Take another piece of tape, of the same length, and line it up with the bottom edge of the tape you just placed. Press the tape down firmly.
Remove the gently pressed tape and line it below the tape you just set into place. Gently place it down.
Use another piece of tape and line it below the piece you gently taped down. Press that tape firmly on the canvas.
Keep repeating this process of gentle tape, firm tape, gentle tape, firm tape as you make your way down the canvas. By the end, you should only be left with the pieces of tape that were firmly set in place. There should be no “gentle tape” on the canvas.
Step 4: Using the second lightest color, paint the areas of the canvas that aren’t covered in tape with a sponge. This will help make sure that the paint doesn’t bleed through. After painting, remove the tapes and let it dry completely.
Step 5: Use the same process as Step 3 to place tapes vertically across the canvas. Instead of the pattern being gentle tape, firm tape, gentle tape, firm tape, start off with a “firm tape”. The pattern will be firm tape, gentle tap, firm tape, gentle tape.
Step 6: Using the third lightest color, paint the areas of the canvas that aren’t covered in tape with a sponge. Let it dry. Do NOT remove the tape.
Step 7: Use the same process as Step 3 taking pieces of tape horizontally across the canvas. The pattern should be gentle tape, firm tape, gentle tape, firm tape.
Tip: To make sure all lines are even with the past horizontal tapes, slightly lift the corners at the edges to make sure you will have those straight lines.
Step 8: You’ll be left with squares to paint in. Take the darkest color and paint the remaining areas on the canvas.
Step 9: Remove all of the tape and let it dry.
This DIY seems difficult because the directions are kind of overwhelming. I promise, it isn’t too bad! This DIY, if followed through correctly, is fool proof. You really just have to pay attention to lining the tapes up properly while also being patient with the paint as you use the sponge to dab on the color and let the color dry in between layers.
FOR OIL PAINTERS…
For oil paint, it is much more difficult! If you are using oil paints for this project, you really just won’t have the time to let it dry completely in between layers. If you do, this project will take you weeks. Instead, use the tips down below to help speed up the process.
- Mix a few drops of Linseed oil with your paint. This changes the consistency of the paint a bit and helps it dry faster
- Work in thin, even layers. This will help to make sure your paint dries evenly.
- Don’t wait for your layers to dry with oil paint, because it will LITERALLY drive you insane just waiting. Instead, be very gentle with the “gentle tape” piece. Also, instead of reusing the gentle tape piece, replace this piece as you go. This will help avoid getting dark paint spots on the light areas.
- Make sure that you don’t adjust your firm tape piece too much, because otherwise the oil paint below will move around too much.
LAST THOUGHTS…
I hope these ideas inspire you to give these canvas DIY’s a try for yourself. Grab a friend and maybe a coffee and just get painting!
Enjoy!
