You can paint on so many things! Are you going to try any new painting surfaces this summer?
My 5 Favorite Painting Surfaces
Let’s talk about painting surfaces. Canvas, of course, is the first thing that comes to mind when we think of acrylic painting. It is an excellent surface for painting on (we will talk about them later), but you aren’t limited to just canvases. There are so many other surfaces that we could take our brushes to and bring a new life! Today I am going to share my 5 favorites surfaces to paint on and why I like them so much.
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Materials Mentioned
- Canvas Panels
- Mixed Media
- Canvas Value Packs
- Metal Bucket
- Wood Panel, Wood Pallet Hanger
- Outdoor Craft Paints
A canvas panel is cotton canvas mounted to a board. This makes them a more solid surface than a stretch canvas. They are inexpensive, and space savers which make them perfect for teaching. They can even fit into a standard frame!
I have so many paintings on canvas panels, like my Mixed Media Chapel.
One thing I love canvas panels for is mixed media painting. In mixed media, you apply a lot of different mediums than just paint like, ink, stenciling, layered papers, and it is easier for these types of things to adhere to the canvas panel.
Mixed Media Pad
If you know me, you know I love this thing!! I love the 11×14 mixed media pad, but it’s also available in other sizes like a 5×8 that could be fun for those on the go inspiring moments.
Mixed Media Pads are great for just playing around and learning. I recommend everyone have one! Use it as a sketchpad to practice your strokes, brush pressure, and color mixing, without feeling like it needs to be perfect. We all have to practice things over and over to get better!
Many of my Tribe members practice their painting and follow along with my tutorials first while using a mixed media pad. Then when they feel confident, they paint again on canvas.
I keep all of mine because they are like a scrapbook of all your work. If you love your painting, tear it out and frame it! You can also look back and see your progress.
Practice, find things you like and get more confident. If you only get one thing to paint on, get a mixed media pad!
Painting on Wood Panel
There’s something about how the layers of paint sit on top of the wood that I find so appealing.
I had to pick up two wood panels for a baby shower gift and my three year old asked if she could paint on some too. She chose three small panels, one as a housewarming gift for her uncle and the other two for herself.
She also asked if she could have some new acrylic paint, and of course the only color she wanted was a shocking bright green. But I’m here to foster her creative intelligence and bit my tongue in favor of enthusiasm for her independent ideas.
When we got home, I taped the panel’s edges off with blue painters tape. In my own painting process I begin by drawing, and then layer the paint on top of that. In a similar fashion, her initial marks were made with grease pencils, followed by shocking green paint.
This was all set up on top of a large piece of paper to keep our table cleanish.
Oh, and the pink shirt is a smock — in case acrylic paints are new to you, they will NOT wash out of clothes! But don’t let this deter you — acrylics are worth it! They have a totally different look and feel from school-grade paints like tempera, which would be too flaky and isn’t as archival for a project like this.
When the first painting was done, she moved on to the next two. We used a variety of brushes and she had a great time sorting through the bazillion colors of acrylic paint that I’ve collected over the years.
By the time she reached the third painting, I noticed that her confidence with the materials had risen, she made complex comments about her aesthetic choices, and her ability to control the paint and execute her ideas as she imagined was further developed.
The next day: Peeling off the blue tape — so fun!
This became a mixed media piece with the addition of glitter, which you can kind of see up there. It was added while the paint was still wet, and sticks quite nicely to the paint. One of my favorite things about acrylic paint is how fast it dries! It almost has the look of oil paint, but the results are immediate.
Materials
- Wood panel
- Acrylic paint
- Synthetic fiber brushes (for acrylic paint)
- Water container for washing brushes
- Grease pencils
- Blue painters tape
Note: Acrylic paint should be used in a well-ventilated area. Follow all instructions found on the back of your paint container/s for proper use.
If you haven’t already seen this mesmerizing video of child artist, Aelita Andre, I thought this might be a good time to share it. This gives me studio envy and has my mind racing with thoughts about how deliberate and thoughtful Aelita is, and how we can adopt some of her studio habits in our own art making practice. The more exposure children have to media and materials (in whatever discipline), the closer they come to mastering the nuances of the materials and reaching the level of expert in their work.
