Textured Abstract Art

I think you all know I love to paint. It relaxes me, both painting furniture and watercolor, but since the kids have been out of school, my paintbrushes have sat in the basement. What could be more fun than creating textured abstract art with my kids (or yours)?

We each created a piece of textured abstract art and I have them placed across our mantel! Can you guess who did each one?

This was really a fun way to be creative without the pressure or that little voice inside one’s head saying, “You’re doing it all wrong.”

I brought all the materials outside and we painted in the yard. What fun! Want to create your own art in your home? Here’s how!

How to Create Textured Abstract Art

Materials 

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• Canvases (we used 16 x 20)
• Saltwash
• General Finishes Paints (we used a selection of Blues)
• Purdy Brushes and Chip Brushes
• Cups for Paint

You probably already have many of these materials in your own home. I ordered canvases but the other materials I had in the basement – the Saltwash and General Finishes Paint from previous projects. You may remember I did this chest and this tray with Saltwash, a paint additive that gives a textured finish.

Method

Step 1 –  Get your area set up. Use an old table you don’t care about or put some craft paper down to protect your surface.

Step 2 – Mix Saltwash into some colors. We mixed our Saltwash into Summertime Blue and a darker blue to created depth.

Step 3 – Apply textured paint to canvas. I think just doing this swish across the canvas makes a pretty statement! I love that blue!

Allow textured areas to dry and apply more untextured paint in haphazard strokes. The less you think about it the better.

My boys had so much fun. I just have to share a few photos of them painting their abstracts.

Conor really loaded the paint on his! I had to bring a blow dryer out to help with the drying time!

The only guidance I gave was to think of the ocean. That our abstracts are inspired by the waves, then I let their creativity run wild. They loved mixing the colors and adding more and making shapes. I wish you could hear what they were talking about. It really was so sweet to create art with them.

I love what they painted! They were so excited to see that I’d displayed all our artwork on the mantel for the summer.

To me art created by my children is more meaningful than some really expensive piece from a gallery. Knowing their heart and soul went into it is priceless in my book.

I kept the mantel really simple with beach rocks we’ve collected at the beach, each one careful picked and carried home.

I also brought the books down that were in the guest room, I shared the bookshelves up there last week. Well, here’s how the bookshelf is looking down here:

The teal covers look perfect down here with all our coastal decor. Don’t you think?

So did you guess who did each one? John did the one on the left (above), Conor did the middle and I did the one on the right.

This was so much fun! I hope you’ll try this at home with your kids or friends!

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