COST: $0-$10
EFFORT: 1 out of 5
RESULTS: 4 out of 5
My grandmother was a very talented oil painter in Scotland, and I like to think I inherited a bit of her talent for brushwork. But since I have so many creative interests — sewing clothes, woodworking, quilting, needlework, interior decorating, scrapbooking, pyrography — I don’t spend nearly enough time working on becoming a better painter.
I took two sessions of oil painting classes last year and really want to find the time to go back. (Let me know when the days start being 30 or so hours long.) A technique I’ve always wanted to learn is called impasto. Vincent Van Gogh was amazing at this. It’s where the paint is applied in thick layers, sometimes with a knife, and can even be mixed right on the canvas. The the paint dries, impasto gives it this amazing texture — swirls and ridges that pop right off the canvas.
When I was drywalling the dingy basement laundry room that I turned into a painting/DIY studio, I remember smoothing globs of joint compound over the seams and returning later to see it dried in swirls and ridges. It had the coolest texture — just like an impasto painting — and, of course, since it was a wall, I had to sand it smooth and get rid of it.
While I haven’t yet done much impasto painting, I discovered a hack that gives you a similar appearance with a totally different (and unexpected) medium: drywall compound!
That sounds strange, doesn’t it? You see, impasto is almost always done with oil paints because of their slower drying time, but they’re expensive and can be tricky to use. (Clean-up is also a pain and involves stinky chemicals.) You can also use high-quality acrylic paints by mixing in a special gel to give them a heavier body. It’s an investment, especially since the technique requires you to use globs of paint for nice thick layers.
When I was drywalling the dingy basement laundry room that I turned into a painting/DIY studio, I remember smoothing globs of joint compound over the seams and returning later to see it dried in swirls and ridges. It had the coolest texture — just like an impasto painting — and, of course, since it was a wall, I had to sand it smooth and get rid of it.
It inspired me, however, to spread some of the spackle on scrap pieces of wood. I globbed it on in striped patterns, daubed it on as it I was painting something abstract and even swirled it on. After it dried on the wood, I brushed on a quick coat of gesso to prime the surface and then it was ready for paint.
It was very soothing — almost like paint-by-numbers — to brush paint over the textured surfaces. It required hardly any paint, since I wasn’t trying to build up the surface of the painting. It also meant I could use whatever paint I wanted — even the cheap stuff. With the work of priming and texturing already done, I could just play around with mixing pretty colours and dabbing them on — maybe adding some glitter, too.
While I still do plan on learning to do REAL impasto painting, this is an easy hack that makes it easy for anyone to create a painting that looks really impressive. I plan on painting a few with my kids because I know they’ll get a kick out of the fancy textures.
This is a very inexpensive project. You can buy small tubs of spackle for around $4 (we like DAP Drydex) and use acrylic paints from Dollarama to create cool textured paintings that look like something out of an art gallery. Any old scrap of wood will do for your canvas.
These mini paintings would make great gifts, too, especially if you built or bought frames to fit. It’s the perfect time of year to work on handmade holiday gifts. Let me know how they turn out!
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