Everyone's An Artist | Color Blocking

Hey there! Do you have a blank wall in your house in need of some color?...Or maybe your office decor is a little bland? Well, this D.I.Y. project will give you a quick and easy fix!

 (*laughs at self for sounding like an infomercial*)

Of course, I always support buying art lol...but some things, you can do yourself and it's more fun that way! Today, I'm going to show you how to make THIS....

I was inspired by the neutrals with neons trend that's going on :).

Materials:

• Craft Paint (I used five colors but you can use as many different colors as you want.)
• 2" Flat Brush
• Canvas (Mine is 18" x 24")
• Painter's Tape
• Drop Cloth (or newspaper...something to protect the surface you're painting on)
• Varnish (optional...it protects the painting and can provide different finishes...gloss, high gloss, matte, satin, etc.)

Instructions:
1. Spread out your newspaper or drop cloth to protect your work area and lay your blank canvas on the surface. 

 
2. Choose which color you want your lines between the squares to be. You will paint the entire canvas this color. These are the colors that I used....my line color is the golden brown.

Navy - Reef Blue - Chestnut - Neon Yellow - Golden Brown

Here is my canvas after painting the background color...

3. After the paint dries, lay down your painter's tape to make your squares...rectangles...whatever shape or pattern you desire. It's your world!lol

*Quick Tip* I learned this from HGTV...If you desire really clean straight lines and want to be sure the colors don't bleed under the tape, you can go over the tape with the same color you just painted the background, let that dry, and then proceed to the next step. Like so...

I didn't really want to take the time to do that soooo...next step.

4. Paint each section with your different colors (or you could paint it all one color...again...your world) and let the paint dry. On another note, some craft paints are more opaque than others. For instance, with the chestnut and reef blue, I only needed to paint one layer for it to be opaque but, with the navy, I had to paint two layers. With the neon, I had to do like a million...not really...more like 5 but it's still a little transparent, which I knew it would be (you can kind of see the tan through the yellow). Some paint bottles will tell you if the color is more on the transparent or opaque side...some don't.

5. Remove your painter's tape and you've got yourself a brand new work of art!! After it dries completely, you can spray it with varnish if you so choose. Follow the instructions on the can.

See that was easy. To reaaally make it the focal point in a room, go BIG. My canvas is only 18" x 24" but you can find them in much larger sizes.

This is just the foundation people lol...you can put patterns in the squares...circles...stripes. You can stencil letters in the different squares (think I'm gonna do that one myself). You can make collages in the different squares...the options are really endless. Try it out!!