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- Canvas (Here’s the link to mine)
- Joint compound (The cheapest I found was at Menards)
- White paint (acrylic)
- Texture modeling paste
- Interior wall paint (Great time to use those sample paints you have on hand)
- Drop cloth
HOW TO CREATE TEXTURED ART WITH SPACKLE
I have been super stressed out lately – I am being line-by-line audited. Lucky me 😉 To de-compress, I started painting again and finally got around to trying a technique I’ve been dying to experiment with: SPACKLE ART! You may have already seen this on REELS, but I wanted to show you my technique. This style of art goes for $500+ on Anthropologie, and you can create a few for under $50 with savy canvas sourcing.
WHAT YOU NEED/COST:
+ canvas $25+
+ spackle (i recommend at least a gallon) $20
+ metal fork
+ drywall joint knife $1
+ drop cloth or sheet to protect your floor
+ rag or paper towels
+ white paint if you are re-purposing an old canvas
WHAT TO DO:
+ if you are painting an old canvas or doing a DIY thrift store flip, make sure to paint it white at least 24hrs prior to starting this project
+ lay your drop cloth out on the floor, and place your canvas on top. you don’t want to use an easel for this project
+ open your gallon of spackle and mix until blended
+ use your drywall joint knife to scoop and apply the spackle to the canvas and spread in a thin layer until the whole canvas is covered. I’ve found that holding the knife parallel to the canvas and dragging it lightly up and down the canvas in straight lines achieves the most uniform look. do not add too much, because it will end up being quite heavy.
+ take your fork and press all the tines down flat (not the tips, lay the whole fork down flat) and slide it up and around the canvas to draw your rainbow arch shape – or whatever design you want!
+ clean your fork off on a rag/ paper towel each time you use it in order to achieve the cleanest lines.
+ once you are happy with your design, keep the canvas laying flat to dry for 3-6hrs
+ optional – paint your textured art! i prefer to leave mine as is, because I love the natural off-white tone but you could definitely paint it any color you want to match your decor
If you are more of a visual learner like me, head over to my IGTV for a full tutorial.
PRO TIP:
Canvas can be pricey, so make sure to check your local thrift store for old artwork that you can re-purpose. You might even get lucky and find a gold antique framed piece of art!!
Here’s how mine turned out:
Easy Textured Wall Art DIY with the Most Creamiest Paste
Fearless DIY. Sharing building project tutorials and interior design tips. Let’s build something beautiful together. For more projects, design tips and behind the scenes, follow me @designtobuild.nicole
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After completing my picture frame moulding in my theater room, I wanted a substantial piece to fill the space of each box. Creating these DIY textured wall art canvases not only complement the walls well, but they also have an added bonus. These canvases serve as a surface for sound to be absorbed. While they may not be as effective as acoustic panels, they look good and they somewhat serve that purpose.
Adding art to your walls is a simple and effective way to enhance the look and feel of your home. However, not everyone wants to hang a traditional painting or photograph.
If you’re looking for something a little more unique and eye-catching, consider creating your own textured wall art.
In this DIY textured wall art tutorial, I’ll show you how to use everyday materials to create a piece of art that is both beautiful and tactile.
Whether you’re a seasoned DIY-er or just starting out, this guide will provide all the information you need to create your own textured wall art that perfectly fits your style and space.
Does the thickness of the paste really matter? Yes! I will show you how to get the creamiest paste! Making it so much easier to work with and much less likely to crack.
So gather your materials and let’s get started on this fun and creative canvas art project!
But first…I want to give you the secret to how to make the creamiest textured paste. Here’s a short video on how easy it is…
How to Create a DIY Textured Wall Art Tutorial
Everything you’ll need is listed below along with the links to make it easy.
Materials Needed for DIY Textured Wall Art Tutorial:
(Amazon Affiliate Links Included)
- Canvas (Here’s the link to mine)
- Joint compound (The cheapest I found was at Menards)
- White paint (acrylic)
- Texture modeling paste
- Interior wall paint (Great time to use those sample paints you have on hand)
- Drop cloth
Tools Needed for DIY Textured Wall Art:
- Painters/Palette knives
- Plastic or metal paint scraper
- Square notched trowel (as used for laying tile)
- Artist’s brushes
- Painter’s tape
- Paper towels
- Baby wipes or a wet cloth
Step One: How to get a creamy paste
I have tried my hand at DIY textured wall art in the past and have loved how they’ve turned out. However, I’ve never been able to figure out how to get that creamy textured paste.
After perusing Pinterest, researching as much as I can, and lots of trial and error. I now know the secret. And I’m here to share it with you!
Dish out the amount of joint compound you need. Amount needed is dependent upon the size of your canvas. For my 24″x36″ art canvas, I used about about 4 cups of joint compound. This is a very rough estimate, but will give you an idea of the amount used for one canvas.
Add in 2-3 spoonfuls of acrylic paint and start stirring. I was pretty liberal in the amount I added. There’s really no wrong amount.
And now you need to really work at it. Smash it, stir it, mix it around. The more you stir, the creamier it gets. Use those muscles. Keep stirring until it’s at a consistency you really like.
If it seems too creamy and not enough texture, add some more drywall joint compound. If it’s not creamy enough, add in more of the acrylic paint. Like I said, there’s really no right or wrong amount. You just have to play with it, til you get it to the texture you like.
Can you see the difference between the two? The left paint scraper is just joint compound. The right paint scraper has the acrylic added in. So creamy! It’s so good!!
But, if you’re looking for even more creamy goodness, the texture paste will change the game a little more. Adding in 2-3 spoonfuls of this stuff really gives your paste that smooth, like butter, feel. Stir it in and watch the texture change even more.
Step Two: Create your base
How you start creating your textured art, is dependent on the look you want. I’ll use my four canvases to show you the different ways I used.
For my first canvas
Now for the fun part! Using my paint scraper, I spread my compound mixture evenly across my entire blank canvas. I then used my wider paint scraper to smooth it out even more over the entire piece.
For my next step, I used a palette knife to draw a curved line. This line would serve as a separation between the smooth side of my canvas and the textured side.
Using the number 1 palette knife from the set I bought off of amazon, I then rapidly tapped the compound on one side of the line. This caused heaps to form, adding a really cool texture to a large section of the canvas….
The more I tapped my palette knife, the more texture I created…
For my second canvas
The first thing I did, was evenly tape off my sections. You can see where I placed my tape, in the picture below…
Now that I have it taped off in the sections I want, I added an even layer of compound, using my putty knife, to the bottom of the canvas…
I then used my square-notched trowel to form lines horizontally across this section. Try to keep the trowel at a 45 degree angle. This will create fuller lines that aren’t lumpy.
Be sure to wipe away excess paste on your trowel in between each swipe that you make across the canvas…
Now you’re ready to do the other section. This time run the trowel vertically across the canvas. Starting at the top, at a 45 degree angle, and running it all the way down to the end of the section…
It should now look something like this…
For my third canvas
I decided to get a little adventurous with my third canvas art piece. I started out by drawing my design, using a pencil. Because I wrote so lightly, you’ll need to look very close to see my lines…
I then applied my compound mixture to the canvas, as I went. Filling in the sections along the way. The first section has the appearance of a mountain-like scene on the top and the bottom. To do this, I added an even layer of compound in the each section.
Then I used palette knife number 3 to draw lines, as shown below…..
Filling in the next section on both sides, I used palette knife number 1 to get this texture. (Similar to the same texture from my first canvas). The sunshine was flowing in strong on this day. Sorry for all the shadows. But, I was loving that sunny day….
For my third section, I evenly spread the compound and then drew lines using palette knife number 4….
And then it was finally time to fill in the rest of my canvas. After filling each section evenly with the compound mixture, I used palette knife number 1 to draw wider lines on each side of the canvas….
And there she is. Ahhhh! All of those textures. Love it!
For my fourth canvas
Moving onto my final canvas that I made for my theater room makeover… For this one, I kept it simple.
After playing with the paint color, Bonsai Trunk by Behr and my white acrylic paint colors, I landed on a shade I really liked. I basically just kept adding white acrylic paint to the Bonsai Trunk until it was a a very light hue of sage green….
I then painted the entire canvas with this color. Two coats. Added my joint compound with no rhyme or reason. Got it to the textured look I wanted, while keeping the mixture on the bottom half of the canvas.
Note: If you are not planning on framing your canvas, be sure to paint the sides of the canvas too.
The funny thing is, although this was the easiest and most basic canvas, it is my favorite. The simple things…
There are so many different looks and textures you can try out for your wall art. I’m only sharing a few here. But this is a time to get creative.
Don’t be afraid to mess anything up. You can always use your paint scraper to flatten the different textures out and start all over.
Step Three: Time for paint
Or not. These DIY textured wall art canvases are perfect just as they are. While I debated leaving them all white, in the end I decided to add some color. This is a great time to bust out those old paint samples.
Again, after playing with paint colors, here’s how they turned out…
Each of these easy wall art canvases are the perfect size for my picture frame moulding wall….
5 Quick and important tips:
Tip 1: Adding the texture paste is optional
While it will make your compound creamier, adding the texture paste is not a necessity. The acrylic paint does almost as good of a job. I ran out of texture paste by the time I got to my third canvas, and to be honest, you really can’t tell a huge difference. The paste is an additional cost, you don’t necessarily have to make.
Tip 2: It takes a while for the canvases to dry
This is a DIY of patience. Haha! Not because it’s hard work, but because it can take a couple days for the drying process of your canvas. This is, of course, dependent upon how thick you apply your compound. Which leads me to my 3rd tip…
Tip 3: Don’t apply your paste too thick
Applying your paste too thick, will cause cracks to occur. When you make swipes with the trowel, it should go all the way down to the canvas. Therefore, err on the side of applying a thin layer rather than a thick layer.
Tip 4: You don’t always have to go out and buy a new canvas.
Look around your house for already framed old canvas pictures that you’re no longer fond of. Apply your compound mixture over that ugly picture and voila–now you have something beautiful again!
Tip 5: Canvases come in many different ways.
Most of the time, canvases do not have a firm backing. This can make applying the compound very tricky. You may even run the risk of ripping the canvas. To avoid this from happening, use foam board or a 3/4 inch board as a backing. I used these 4 boards (in the picture below) for my backing.
With each canvas I did, I made sure these boards fit perfectly in between the back wooden frame sections (as shown below)….
My favorite thing to do is to scroll through West Elm, Crate and Barrel and other designer stores and recreate their pieces of art. An inexpensive way to elevate a room to the next level.
I hope you found these complete plans for this DIY textured wall art tutorial to not only be informative, but something you can re-create. Another super easy DIY project. And might I add, so much fun.
Are you ready to go out and create your own interesting texture, abstract wall art?
Framing Your DIY Wall Art
Want to make your own frame for your canvas wall art? Here’s a great tutorial on how I made these floating frames. Or, if you would rather just go with a basic wood frame, check out this post. It’s truly the easiest way to make a frame.
FAQ’s: Textured Wall Art DIY
How do I seal my textured canvas artwork?
Painting the entire piece of artwork will seal it. This will keep it from cracking in the future. If you prefer not to paint your artwork, you can spray a sealant on it instead.
How thick should I apply the joint compound onto my entire canvas?
Be careful not to apply the compound on too thick. About an 1/8 to 1/4″ is all you need.
What do I do if my texture paste starts cracking?
If your texture paste starts cracking, allow it to dry completely. Then fill it in with another thin layer of paste.
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