BEGINNING PROJECTS - HOW TO MAKE PRIMER

So, I'm starting a series of painting projects as gifts (wedding and anniversary), and I thought I'd document the process for those out there who aren't quite sure where or how to start these kind of things on their own.  Which is cool.  I had to figure it out for myself, and seeing as this world is vastly unfair, I'm going to show you how to do it the way I did, only without all the mistakes and crap in between.  You're welcome.

I'm a penny-pincher. Always have been.  And thank goodness, cause I'd be broke by now, otherwise.  (I owe my monetary status to my mother, by the way.) So when I'm planning a project, craft stores like Michaels or Jo-Ann's, or even any of those mom-and-pop owned art studios are the last places I go.  They're gonna charge you an arm and a leg and your first born child for a canvas that could fit in your sock drawer.  My go-to?  Goodwill.  Somewhere amongst their dusty Gogo boots and pencil-cut high-waters are some pre-painted canvasses just waiting to be up-cycled.  So, five bucks spent, and I have nearly $50 worth of canvas. Also known as Christmas.

Now, some will tell you to just cover those suckers with white paint and call it a day.  DON'T.  You will regret it.  Sure, it'll cover it well enough, but the texture of the previous images will show through, and it'll make your work look like you bought a canvas from Goodwill and decided to throw white paint on it, and let's be honest, art is all about deception. So here's my recipe for home-made canvas primer.

What you see above is: 
1) two parts AMERICANA Acrylic Paint in Snow (Titanium) White [or, if you're like me and don't feel like buying anything if I don't have to, you can also use some pre-opened can of white ceiling paint from your garage].  
2) 1 part RED DEVIL's One Time Lightweight Spackling 
3) 1/4 part ELMER'S Glue
4) and a little water
Adjust measurements as you like to get the consistency you're comfortable with. Mix together in a bucket and store in some sort of glass jar with a lid.  Pour a little of this into a painting tray and, with a painting roller, prime your up-cycled canvas with your new super-affordable home made primer.  You're welcome.

[If you're feeling exceptionally adventurous, you can always go out and find a cotton or muslin sheet really cheep, prime it, build yourself a frame, stretch the primed fabric over the frame, staple it, and have a 3D canvas with proportions of your choosing. You could also stretch it over a regular piece of flat plywood to create a flat canvas. A lazy way of doing the same thing is to simply prime the sheet and hot-glue the edges down, creating a sort of banner rather than a firm canvas.  Just depends what you're going for...and how much sweat you're willing to put into it.]

So here's what I've got. 

The small canvas on the left (an old 6th grade art project of mine, up-cycled) will be a calligraphy project, a with hand-painted phrase.  The small one on the right (an ugly snowy landscape from Goodwill, up-cycled)..I have no idea.  And the big one (a very ugly painting of a sunset, up-cycled) is going to be a large-scale collection of five panels, based on a five-phrase poem authored by my oldest brother. 

Here's a sneak-peek of what it's gonna look like. I'm excited!

I'm going to be keeping documentation as I progress with these projects.  Hope whoever's keeping up with me will find some sort of inspiration (or at least some entertainment) in these posts as they show up.  

Remember, whenever you're starting a new project, always check to see first if whatever you're doing can be made on your own.  Rather than bee-lining for the shrink-wrapped, machine-made, or pressure-sealed, check your own resourcefulness.  Google it.  Pinterest it.  Freaking Rambo it!  Sometimes the best stuff happens when you decide to throw a whole bunch of crap into a bucket and go "Let's see what happens!" 

And never forget, rules are the prisons of the unimaginative. Color outside the lines. Have faith in yourself.

-Chimmy