DIY: Large Painting On The Cheap

So we all know art can be uber expensive, and hard to find in the exact look or colors you want right? Right! <---That's you shouting right w/ your fist in the air because you can totally relate. I'm going to show you how I fixed this problem for myself.

Here is my $10 piece of perfection. Found here. He asked $15, I offered $10 & you know the rest.

I really loved the details. And would you know, IT'S FREAKIN PLASTIC! That makes it light weight and easier to hang w/o using anchors. And let's be honest, you & I both know it's a print w/ some kind of plastic stuff to add texture. The guy asked if I was sure I wanted it, lmao, w/ a are you crazy look. He had no clue!

After a scrub down with an old toothbrush I gave it the Valspar spray primer treatment and let it sit until the next day. Then I spray it w/ a few coats of flat Porcelain Valspar spray paint. I also primed the print with a white Zinsser spray primer.

Originally I was going to paint the print w/ chalkboard paint for my little girl's room, but it was way to big for the little wall that was waiting for it. So it's going to my empty mantle. I looked at Mantle and said, "Mantle I know your the focal point of our living room, the first thing we see when we walk in, it's your time. I'm here." Well not really. But that's how I felt.

I pulled out a craft tray, some cheap craft paints I had on hand, and a chipped plate. I only used a few colors (black & white included to lighten or darken the main colors).

After drawing some wavy lines to look like seaweed I started to sporadically (learned that word watching Clueless) filling in my weeds. I used light turquoise, dark turquoise, tan, & yellow. Yellow was used to mix w/ the blues to create greens and teals. Tan was used to tie in the mocha colored sofa I have. I did go back and layer some paint. It took me a little time but I felt my way through this. It kind of evolved on it's own.

Voila! Here it is over my mantle. It pulls in all the colors I have used in the living room so far. (Ignore the chairs in the photo. They will soon be used for the dining table. And they are Robbins Egg Blue not funky filthy blue :o)! )

Here is a better close-up. You like?

The hardest thing was drawing the curvy lines. I swear to you it almost gave me a headache trying to balance them on both sides. Looking back I could of skipped that. So for $12 ($10 painting, $2 for new painting brushes & everything else on hand) I had a nice large custom colored painting that is perfect for my living room.

I linked up @ The Single Nester & Poppies at Play