I was at my local craft store shopping for the art classes i am teaching when i came across these large canvases! At 30″ x 48″ they were a steal for their size so i grabbed two and was going to figure out what to do with them later. Well later had finally arrived, the weekend before Ramadan began I decided on making something for my parents to give to them for Eid. I wanted to get this project complete before the first day of Ramadan, and with that quickly approaching, i couldn’t think of a better time.
I started by prepping the area- layed down some plastic, got my supplies together and then I randomly placed masking tape onto the canvas. I rearranged it a few times until i was happy with the size of each section.I wanted the piece to be a sort of salmony/orange color, so i started with red in one section. On either side i had red/yellow or red/yellow/white, next to that i had yellow/white. Next to that i had yellow, then another yellow/white and yellow/white/red and so on and so forth. Pretty much the color had to flow and link from one section to the other.After finalizing the sections and colors i started to paint. I had my 2- 1/2 year old helping me. (Shows you how simple this really is)I did a few more coats w/o letting the paint dry,adding more color here and there until i was satisfied with the blending. I then let the canvas dry overnight.The next day I white washed the entire canvas to lighten the color. I did a yellow wash right over the white wash not waiting for it to dry.I let it dry for a few minutes. (Pretty much the time it took to wash my brushes)This was the exciting part. Peeling of the tape……and wala. The master piece!
I was simultaneously working on the second canvas to to go with the one i documented. Alhamdullilah I am quite satisfied with it so far. The multiple layers of color covered in the two washes gives a beautiful marbleized finish. The washes really helped mute the bright colors and make them cohesive, but i can’t say that this project is complete just yet.
I just need to incorporate some calligraphy. I know Kufic script will go very well with these lines, I’m just not to sure of where to place it. I’ve taken pictures of the canvases and tried to digitally alter them before i put it down in paint. I’m thinking about going with the above. What do you all think? Yay or Nay?
If you liked this post, I'd love for you to share it!
