DIY Herringbone Art

Hello again !  We are finally getting some nice, warm weather down here in Virginia !  So glad !  Here is another post about my spring break projects.  This one is about our master bath.  Even though I put up a new shelf and word cloud in our master bath, above the bathtub was in dire need of some artwork.  See how bland looking this is??? 

This big, blank wall has just been begging for something to cover it since we moved in and I haven't been able to find the right piece of art…until I came across this gorgeous picture:

Source

It was love at first sight.  I knew that I wanted to attempt to make this for the bathroom using sea blues and greens to match the teal in the word cloud I made a couple of months ago.  Plus, I think that blues and greens are soothing and calming.  So, I gathered my materials and went to work.

Materials:

• Canvas (any size you'd like - mine was 24 in. X 30 in.)
• Painter's tape
• Paints of your choice (used acrylics - some are waterproof)
• Paint brush
• Something to put paint in to mix
• Foam roller brush
• Tweezers (if needed)

I searched through my old paint class materials and found my disposable pallet pad.  It is essentially a tablet of wax paper.  It's pretty cool and easy to use because once you are finished, you just roll it up and throw it away.  I just squeezed dots of paints onto the pallet, mixed colors, and painted a crazy meld of colors.  Once the canvas was covered with paint, I almost wanted to stop here and put it up, but instead I proceeded to the herringbone pattern.

I let it dry for about a day before I placed the tape on it.  Cutting the tape was the most tedious part of this project.  I cut about 108 pieces of tape at 4.5 inches each.  It helped to stick the pieces of tape on something as I cut it, hence the chair full of tape.  I suggest cutting all pieces first, then place the tape on the canvas.  

For the tape, I started on the top left and placed the first piece of tape.  Then I placed a second piece of tape perpendicular to the first, and then the third as parallel to the first - this picture might explain better:

After I finished one row, I started the second row.  After all rows were finished, I pulled some pieces of tape off to get the "blank" pieces.  I ran out of tape midway so had to use a different brand of painter's tape that had some design on it, just in case you were wondering why there are two colors of tape.

Then I took my foam roller and white paint and rolled over the entire canvas.  I only did one "thick" layer of paint.  This part was fun !

While the paint was still wet, I started to peel off the tape.  The edges were easy since there was tape to grab, but I needed tweezers to grab the corners of the other pieces in the middle. Some paint did get under the tape and left little splotches.  I was able to carefully wipe some off, but I figured from far away no one would really notice. 



It was pretty neat to see how the pattern came put as I continued to peel off the tape.  Here is the finished product :

I love it !  The colors are great and the pattern looks awesome.  The first row is a little slanted, but who would notice?

It didn't take long to dry and when it was finished drying I added some wire to hang it like I do my frames.  Then I grabbed a picture hook and went upstairs to our bathroom to hang it.  

Well, let me tell you that once I hung it in the bathroom, I no longer liked the painting. I mean, I like the painting, but not in the bathroom.  I think the colors are all wrong and the herringbone pattern is too much pattern with the tile below it.  AND, I think that the canvas is too small.  Ah crap.  

It has been hanging up in the bathroom for over a week now and I'm trying to get used to it, but it looks like it might end up coming down.  Then I'll be back to square one with a big, blank wall.  The painting might end up in another room…or in storage until I find a better home for it.  Even though it didn't work out in the bathroom,  I'm glad that I made it because making the pattern with tape was a lot of fun.  And painting brought back some good memories from my painting class in college.

Now you can Do It Yourself Too !

~Stephanie