How To: Geometric Art

I've been wanting to write a tutorial for this for a while, and I finally took photos of the step by step for you all!  It's surprising how good this comes out, because while painting it you'll be thinking "I dunno about this..." but once that tape is removed? Boom! It's awesome. And so fun. I've had mine up in the house for a week, and it keeps catching my eye. And isn't that the point of art & home decor? To be pleasing to the eye? Sure, why not!

So for this fun project, which you can easily do in a weekend, you'll need:

• A pre-stretched canvas
• Masking Tape
• Assorted paint colors (doesn't use much so the small craft bottles are fine)
• Brushes
• Sandwich bags or Plastic Wrap

Let's begin! Start by painting a base coat on your canvas.  I chose Martha Stewart's Arubica Teal, I love it - and I knew I'd be heading towards a blue & red combo for this painting: I did 2 coats...

If you don't plan to frame this, then be sure to paint the edges.  Next up, start taping.  Now I used this "bloc" tape, which is similar to frog tape, and has the chemical edges that form a shield once paint hits it.  You can use any tape, which I'll have a tip for in a few moments here....

Just start taping! Back and forth, cross the canvas. Anything you like. I chose angles to get lots of interesting shapes, but if you did only vertical & horizontal, you'd get a nice clean square & rectangle effect too. Very modern! Here's where I stopped:

Make sure to really rub the tape onto the canvas.  Now here is that tip I was talking about.  Truth be told, I forgot to do this on mine (because I put too much faith into the tape alone, oops!) and I got some leaks.  So don't be like me, take this extra step - especially if you used regular  masking tape.

See that? I'm painting the same base color over my tape.  Why? This means, any potential leaks in your tape job will be the same color as the base, disguising the leaks. Clever! Yes - that IS different tape than my last picture, because like I said, I forgot...but I did another one and photographed that step so YOU don't make my mistake.  Let that dry for about an hour, and start filling in the blanks:

I just started randomly filling in the colors. No rhyme or reason, whatever looks nice.  It felt good to do something really free like this, and it was an incredible break from furniture - which can be really tiring!  Now I did two coats of each color, allowing dry time in between.  Once it's completely dry, start gently pulling your tape.  

Can I add, when you pull tape, you want to pull completely backwards, parallel to the canvas so it really tears any spots where they paint may have wanted to stick.  You'll see what I mean. So there we have it! See how much better it is once the tape is off?

I love it! It was easy too, and the kids can help.  I knew I wanted this on my red wall, as blue and teal have been creeping in our living room for a while now.  Oh, and I welcome it!

You could definitely do this! I had a lot of fun. I can't wait to make more. If you want to seal it, a simple clear polycrylic would be perfect, or even a spray clear coat.  If you want one of these and don't feel up to the job, message me as I would love to do one for you.  If you decide to tackle this, share your pictures with me! I'd love to see them and share them on my facebook page. Thanks for tuning in, feel free to have questions, and most important: have fun!

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