My Kid is a Total Pollock

I present to you the latest Lila and Nina collaboration. This is an acrylic painting on a 22″ x 54″ canvas. Nina has titled it Rainbow Love. I try not to let myself have too many of them, but showing off this project here is a total proud-mom moment for me.

We decided to hang the painting on the wall going up the staircase in our house. I offer you this most uninteresting photograph of the area for your visual satisfaction. Most of the prime realestate on our walls is taken by yours truly. In looking for a place to hang this large work we had to choose from an array of unconventional opportunities. I am now inspired, however, to give the kids the entire wall and see what they can do over the years. (Despite having two boxes in the basement full of wall decor that has been begging for two years to be put up.

I’m totally guessing, but I think this painting took the girls around 10 hours to complete. They started back in December 2019. The canvas was from an old piece I did. They painted it with gesso (primer) to make the canvas new again. After that they had 6-7 painting sessions with my acrylics. Each time I let them choose only three colors. As they worked I rotated the canvas for them, so the top and bottom were never the same. The only rule they had to follow was no big blobs. They had trouble following this rule, of course, and if you look closely I think you can see some large areas of the same color under the top-most layers. This is the first time they have worked on something for multiple sessions. I am proud of them because they never lost interest. It’s an easy thing to do (at any age) when you are in the middle of something, it feels like it’s taking forever, and you aren’t confident about how it will turn out.

In case you are wondering:

A project like this is totally do-able for you or your family. There is no prior experience necessary. You can go to Michaels for your supplies. I prefer ordering from DickBlick. The prices and selection are better. (If you shop on DickBlick you’ll want to select “Blick Studio Cotton Canvas” under the header Canvas and Surfaces. You can get a nice paint set here or choose your colors individually. Your canvas will come ready to be painted, so no need for gesso. You will need brushes. I recommend 1″ and 1/4″ (at least) for stroke variety. You are ready to paint. Are you excited?!

Remember: there aren’t any rules, but there are a few things to keep in mind

Paint in multiple sessions. Do 1-3 colors at a time. Let them dry. Go back to it after a few days. You can look at it while it’s drying, critique it and decide what you want to do next.

Paint for at least three sessions, if not more. More layers will only make this thing more gorgeous.

Don’t paint big blobs. Paint lines. Paint dots. Paint shapes. No blobs.

Don’t smear colors together too much. Cleaning your brush often in water will help this.

Paint with music on.

Paint outside if you can. The lighting will always be better.

When you are finished paint the sides (edges of the canvas where it touches the wall) black. It will make the piece look more finished when you hang it.

Let me know how it goes! If you do this project yourself I must know about it. I will be so proud of you too!