Happy Voting Week/Election Day Lovecats!
Oh what a magical and insane time it is to be alive in this world! I hadn’t meant for this to be a political post, since I actually finished this painting a few weeks ago, but man is it fitting! However, I’m going to skip the political rhetoric and hope the message comes across anyway.
Also, I must note, that this painting is VERY hard to photograph and looks much better in person.
My original intent with these paintings (I’ve done two now), was more of a way to focus my attention and to relax, to have something to do with my hands and to create something while listening to books or podcasts, aside from puzzles or things that would disappear once I finished. I like that this was something I actually wanted to hang in my house, that has a message, and while all art is technically D I Y, my dot paintings are more about learning patience than artful skill, and so I thought I’d share my little process here with you in case you are looking for something to keep you busy while listening to your favorite books, podcasts, music, motivational speeches, etc. 😊
But FIRST, my inspiration…
I checked out And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou from the library earlier this year and sat on the edge of my bed sobbing while reading every single poem out loud. I was so shattered by the book, although I haven’t been through the hardships and tragedy that she endured, the poems about what we as WOMEN have gone through at the hands of the patriarchy and men, resounded very strongly with me, and I wondered why this many years later, we are STILL fighting to have equal rights as men.
ARE WE NOT HUMAN TOO?
Because we have had no other choice but to just accept this as a way of life, any fight against this has come with backlash and I hope for the sake of the younger generations, that we can change this for good.
This painting, with these words AND STILL I RISE, that I pass by and look at every single day, is a reminder of how strong I am, how strong women are and how strong the women were in the past, who helped us get to where we are now, our ancestors who fought for our rights and as a beacon of hope that it can and will be different for all of us now and forevermore.
* If you can’t see the video above, watch it here: ‘Still I Rise’ by Maya Angelou (1987, Live performance)
Anyway, Here’s how I did it…😊
Here’s What I Used…
* Canvas (mine is found and reused wood, but you can use any canvas, board or even paper)
* Acrylic paint
* Paint brushes (tiny for dots) or a dotting tool if you prefer (ALSO: your paint brushes will get ruined over time, it’s not important to use expensive options)
* Gesso (if reusing or painting over another work) and gesso paint brush
* Pencil (to draw out design) and Erasers if you mess up
* Computer to create/print letters (if you like – or you can draw your own)
* Brush cleaner – I use this to keep a point on my brush for as long as possible
* Small dish or tray to hold paint (I use porcelain tea bag holders because they were handy one day and I realized I loved the size in my hand, making it easy to grab the paint when I needed it – which is often, for this painting)
This is a random wooden canvas painting of a horse that my mom found and gave me… Although pretty, I thought it was perfect for this project.
TIP: I’ve painted one other dot painting, on a much larger scale and canvas, but I liked working on wood because it allowed me to lean on it to get more precise DOTS.
If you’re reusing a canvas, paint at least 3 layers of Gesso in different directions each time. Wait for each to dry before adding the next and use sandpaper to smooth brush lines, if you want a smoother finish (I don’t normally do this because I like brushstrokes)
If you paint the first horizontally, flip the canvas and paint the next coat vertically, does this make sense?
If not, there are tons of videos on How To Gesso a Canvas
I use my computer/photoshop to find a font I like and print out the words in a large format.
Then I cut out the letters and lay them out on my canvas until I like the design.
Then I trace around the letters to get the exact look of the font I want.
Then I draw my camouflage shapes around it.
NOTE: You don’t have to do camouflage, I enjoy the composition of it and the way I can alternate colors and also the way it represents military and war and disrupting our presence and vision, blurring the lines, while also sharing a message that opposes it.
My first/original Camo/Dot painting has the words War/Peace sharing the letter A… which I painted the summer of 2023 and also very hard to photograph…
Choose the colors you want to work with… In the painting above, I wanted to really make a statement about war/peace and using pastels for the camouflage gave me that contrast. This had more to do with my own mental space at the time and how even though I wanted peace, I continued to choose war hoping it would create peace. I was tormented, painting this became my peace.
For this work, I felt it needed bolder colors, and I also knew I’d like to hang it with some of my pop art pieces by Lichtenstin, and so I went with red, blue, yellow and black and left the letters white.
I started at the top left corner and worked my way down, alternating colors so they never touched each other, which gets tricky sometimes. You can choose any colors to work with. For my next painting, I might go with a monochromatic vibe, all different shades of the same color 💙🩵💙 if you know what I mean 😉
ALSO NOTE: this is also a test in PERFECTIONISM as well as PATIENCE. I have to accept that not all dots will be perfect, that there will be plenty of mistakes. I purposely DON’T use a dotting tool because I want the dots to look like a human did each one, not like a machine did it. It took a while to get used to not getting upset when I messed up or not wanting to give up and start over, but that’s part of the process, I promise 😘💋
You can also see it on Instagram here…
View this post on Instagram
And… Voila!
THIS IS VERY HARD to photograph… but from a distance, you can’t tell they’re dots, this is what I like as well, that you have to get close to see that it’s dots that make up the colors.
Happy Monday Lovecats!
* Find all my DIY Art here
* Find all my Art posts here
DIY Abstract Art // How to Paint Over An Existing Canvas Painting
