DIY: Tape Painting!

I wanted to give my best friend a housewarming gift for her new place, and was inspired by Maria Teorien's tape painting. Having never painted with acrylic paint before, I was a little nervous how it would turn out but it was surprisingly easy and really fun! and best of all, my bff loved it :)

Materials:

• Canvas (I used Artist's Loft: 16 in. x 20 in.)
• Metallic Gold Spray Paint (I used Krylon- Short Cuts, Metallic Paint)
• Washi or Smash Tape (I couldn't find Washi tape at Michael's, but they had Smash tape in the scrapbooking section. Mine was 15mm wide)
• Round Painting Sponges AKA Spouncers (didn't know it was called that!)
• Acrylic Paint (I got Reeves pack of 18 colors)
• Optional: Painter's Palette

Directions:

1. Go outside and lay out some newspaper. Spray paint the entire canvas gold. One can was enough to fully cover the entire canvas. Don't forget to spray the sides! 

2. Wait until the paint is dry. (An hour should be enough)

3. Apply tape to the canvas in a pattern of your choice

4. Paint each triangle/shape with a different acrylic color using the spouncers and painter's palette. I experimented with mixing colors to make ones I didn't have, especially with the lighter colors like light blue and lavendar. Don't worry if it looks kind of drab, it'll look good once you take the tape off.

5. Wait until the paint is dry. I waited overnight.

6. Gently peel off the tape and admire your new creation! 

Additional Notes:

• I'm not sure how Washi tape is, but the Smash tape doesn't stick very well to the canvas if you wait a few days between applying the tape and actually painting. I just re-stuck the peeling tape or applied a new strip. Be careful when dabbing the paint on to dab directly onto the tape or in the opposite direction of where it starts to peel so the paint doesn't get under the tape.

• To hang your canvas, you'll need to attach something to the back of the frame to hang it onto the wall. Some options are: 
• Sawtooth hangers 
• Wire hangers
• Command strip sawtooth picture hangers (good for if you don't want to put a nail through your wall)

Happy painting!