If you’re looking for a new hobby, consider canvas painting. It might seem intimidating but there are a number of health benefits that make canvas painting for beginners an ideal pastime. There are also a number of easy techniques and a ton of tutorials available on the internet to get you started. Check out these ideas!
Benefits Of Painting
If you work a high-stress job or need help developing some cognitive skills, keep reading, we found some really good reasons why painting is a really great idea!
Reduce Stress Levels
The Paint Mixer has a list of reasons why painting is beneficial to your health. Stress reduction is at the top of that list. The Paint Mixer describes painting as a form of meditation because it forces the artist to focus on one particular task. If you work a high-stress job and you’re looking for ways to cope, painting might be one avenue to consider. Remember, canvas painting for beginners doesn’t have to be hard, there are many easy, stress-free techniques.
Hand-Eye Coordination
Painting doesn’t just benefit adults. Kids U lists a number of reasons why parents should encourage their children to paint to help develop a number of skills. While we can certainly appreciate how some parents might feel about the inevitable mess that comes with letting children paint, skills such as hand-eye coordination will develop from this practice.
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Develops Problem-Solving Skills
Tessera Brandon, an assisted living facility in Florida, recommends canvas painting for beginners because of its ability to improve problem-solving skills. Painting challenges the artist to think conceptually and also to think outside of the box.
Supplies Needed
The downfall of taking up canvas painting is that it does require purchasing supplies. Fortunately, there are a number of websites out there that have a list of supplies that are perfect for beginners. Art Is Fun is one such website. Their list of art supplies includes:
If you’re a fan of Bob Ross and you want the same supplies he uses, there’s a link on his website that will tell you everything you need to paint a happy tree. You can also paint with Bob Ross. His videos are available on YouTube and some of his landscapes will make an excellent canvas painting for beginners.
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Best Paint For Canvas Painting
Reeves points out there are three different mediums artists can use for painting. Oil, acrylic, and watercolor. For the purposes of this article on canvas painting for beginners, our focus will be using acrylic paint.
Different Types of Paint Brushes
Art Journalist provides an overview of the different types of brushes used with acrylic painting and how to use them. Those brushes are:
- Flat brush – Probably the most familiar brush to beginner painters. This brush comes in handy when wide strokes are needed.
- Wash brush – The largest brush in a set. It’s used to cover a large area of the canvas quickly. But, it doesn’t give painters the same amount of control as the flat brush.
- Round brush – These brushes are great for adding detail to your painting.
- Fan brush – Great for painting happy trees and shrubs. Also great for blending skies and backgrounds.
- Liner brush – Probably the smallest brush in a set. Best used when extremely fine details need to be added.
- Angled brush – Known for its slanted tip, this brush is great for painting curves. It’s also useful because the thickness of lines can be adjusted depending on the angle it’s held at. Highly recommended if your canvas is on an easel.
- Palette Knife – Not exactly a brush but definitely something you’ll want in your brush collection. The palette knife is used for creating different textures and spreading paint.
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Preparing The Canvas
Before the fun begins, the canvas will need to be prepped with a primer such as Gesso. The Spruce Crafts advises that all painters will need to determine how many coats of primer to put on. If you’re seeking a smooth finish, two coats of primer are recommended. If a rougher finish is desired, applying one coat will do the trick. The first layer of primer may take several hours to dry. The second layer of primer should be applied perpendicular to the direction the first layer was applied in.
8 Easiest Types Of Canvas Painting For Beginners
If you’ve never picked up a paintbrush before, the idea of painting can seem overwhelming and intimidating. That’s why we scoured the internet searching for easy projects. All of these projects are the perfect kinds of canvas painting for beginners.
Clouds
Clouds. They seem like a simple concept, the perfect subject for beginners. If you need more structure, Tracie Kiernan, author of Step By Step Painting, has a tutorial on her website dedicated to the art of painting clouds. Tracie recommends painting the top half of the canvas blue and then using a blend of the blue and white to paint the bottom half of the canvas, creating a gradient appearance. Tracie provides two different techniques for painting the clouds, depending on whether or not the background paint is wet or dry. She also recommends using the tip of the brush when creating the clouds.
Geometrical Shapes
When it comes to canvas painting for beginners, it doesn’t get much easier than geometric shapes. These paintings can be as basic as drawing circles or squares onto the canvas and then painting them in. However, if you’re looking for something more sophisticated like the painting photographed above, Fox + Hazel has a tutorial for you. In their tutorial, Fox + Hazel begins with a ruler and pencil to draw the geometric shapes onto the primed canvas. Painter’s tape is placed around some of the triangles so they can be painted in. When painting the triangles, Fox + Hazel recommends beginning in the center of the triangle, working out toward the edges. Repeat this process for each triangle, using a different color.
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Doily Wall Art
The Spruce Crafts has a list of easy DIY canvas paintings for beginners. We loved this one by The Gold Lining Girl. Tools used for this project included 6-8 paper doilies, repositionable adhesive spray, and a few different colors of spray paint. The process is fairly straightforward. Spray the canvas with whatever color you like. After the paint dries, figure out how you want the doilies to lay on the canvas. Then, spray one side of the doilies with the adhesive spray. Last, spray a different color over the canvas and the doilies. Let the doilies sit for a few minutes before removing them.
Word Art
Word art is another easy canvas painting for beginners. Paintspiration Art has a wonderful tutorial to help achieve the painting photographed above. They also provide three different techniques artists can use. We’re focusing on the first technique they mentioned. For this technique, tools needed, in addition to the canvas, include vinyl letters and at least two different paint colors.
Paint the canvas one color. Let it dry. Apply the vinyl stickers and then gently paint over the entire canvas with another color. Let the canvas dry for a couple of minutes and then remove the vinyl letters. Voila! Your word art is done!
Pour-On Art
Have you seen the videos of someone using a dustpan to spread various colors of paint onto a canvas? Welcome to the world of pour painting. Pour painting is another easy canvas painting for beginners. While the technique we’re discussing doesn’t use a dustpan, it’s still super easy to accomplish.
Felt Magnet has the tutorial that covers the pour painting photographed above. In their tutorial, Felt Magnet states that the trick to a successful pour painting is mixing the acrylic paint with a pouring medium. The paint colors used can be poured from either individual cups or they can be layered within the same cup. Once the paint has been poured onto the canvas, the artist tilts the canvas in various directions to spread the paint. Show your friends what you can do when given a little paint. They’ll never know this art project was a canvas painting for beginners.
Abstract
Have you ever walked into a museum and seen a painting with a brightly-colored line somewhere in the center of it? Have you ever wondered why said painting was considered art? We’re so glad you asked! According to Art Is Fun, abstract art is defined as the “use of form, color, line, texture, pattern, composition, and process” to elicit emotion from whoever is viewing the artwork. One of the reasons why abstract art might be the ideal canvas painting for beginners is because there’s really no right or wrong way to do it. For any novice who doesn’t know where to begin with abstract art, Apartment Therapy has a list of easy ideas for beginners.
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Trees
Painting trees is another idea for beginners. Trembeling Art breaks down the process of painting trees using acrylic paint. They have suggestions for trees of every season: fall trees, spring trees, and winter trees. Trembeling Art advises that while any brush will get the job done, the fan brush is what most painters use when painting trees into their paintings.
When starting, Trembeling Art recommends starting with the trunk and then adding the branches and some foliage. Additional colors will need to be added to give the tree texture. And while Trembeling Art does provide a thorough tutorial, if you think you’ll do better following along to a video, check out this clip on YouTube of Bob Ross painting an evergreen tree.
Handprint Painting
The last idea for a canvas painting for beginners is the classic handprint painting – the perfect art project to do with your kids. For this clever craft, eHow recommends placing the canvas flat on the ground, on top of a newspaper. If you desire, paint the canvas one color. Place a book underneath the canvas where the first handprint is going to go. Use a roller to apply the paint to the tiny hands and then press the hands onto the canvas where the book is. Repeat this process until you have the desired image. This canvas painting for beginners will make an excellent Mother’s Day or Father’s Day gift!
Whether you have the itch to try something new or you’re looking for ways to relax, we hope you found this article on canvas painting for beginners useful. If any of our suggestions inspired you, please tag us on Facebook and Instagram. We’d love to see what you painted!
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Photo Credits: | Pixabay | Unsplash | Fox + Hazel | The Gold Lining Girl | Paintspiration Art | Felt Magnet
Sources: | The Paint Mixer | Kids U | Tessera Brandon | Art Is Fun | Bob Ross | Reeves | Art Journalist | The Spruce Crafts | Step By Step Painting | Fox + Hazel | The Gold Lining Girl | Paintspiration Art | Felt Magnet | Art Is Fun | Apartment Therapy | eHow
