DIY: Painted and Doodled Canvas Floor Cloth Tutorial

I created this canvas floor cloth as an alternative to area rug for my studio. I had all the materials on hand: yards of canvas that I had bought for making painted journal covers, bottles of acrylic and India inks and dozens of Sharpie pens. It seemed that this could be a project where I could put all of these to good use. Since I wanted to finish this project within a week or so, I decided that I will not overthink or overplan the design and that I would fill it with whatever doodles that popped in my head at that moment. I used a couple of doodles from the official Zentangle patterns and the rest were all my own.

The design process itself was quiet simple. I painted the canvas cloth with acrylic inks first. Then, doodled the patterns using Sharpie markers. Finally, I added white highlights where I thought the design was too dark.

Overall, I enjoyed making it very much. It was like coloring a giant page. Except for one thing: the pungent odor of the markers irritated my eyes a lot. I thought of switching to Prisma brush pens but found Sharpie to be the best tool for doodling on canvas. Next time I do something I like this, I will wear a mask.

Here are step-by-step instructions 

Materials 

1. One 36" by 60" unprimed canvas cloth
2. Daler Rowney FW Acrylic Inks (I used Indian Yellow and Purple Lake)
3. Sharpie Markers (Fine or Medium Point)
4. Craft acrylic paint (white)
5. Inexpensive sponge brushes (available in any craft store)
6. Inexpensive acrylic paint brushes (available in any craft store)
7. A plastic cup
8. Water
9. Wax paper
10. Newspapers or plastic garbage liners

Instructions

1. In a well ventilated room, spread the newspapers or the garbage liners on the floor. These are to protect the floor from any color seepage from the canvas cloth.
2. Spread the canvas cloth on top of the sheets and wet it thoroughly with water using a sponge brush.
3. Decide on the colors that you want to layer the canvas with. You can choose a single color or two or more complimentary colors. Pour a few drops of the acrylic ink in a cup and add 4-6 tablespoons of water to dilute the ink. The ink is highly pigmented and a few drops diluted with water can easily cover the whole cloth.
4. Paint the canvas with the ink using the sponge brush. Add one or more coats to achieve the color intensity that you want (see below). Let the canvas dry.

5. Once the canvas is dry, start doodling with the markers. I would recommend using doodles that can be scaled up. This will help you to cover large areas fairly quickly. Use different color markers for interest.

6. 6. This step is optional. If you like, you can add highlights using inexpensive craft acrylic paints. I used white paint for this step.

 

7. Finally, hem stitch the four sides of the canvas to keep the threads from coming loose. If you choose, you may also attach a slip resistant rug pad to keep the floor cloth from moving on the floor.



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Dyed, Painted, Doodled and Stitched Canvas Storage Accessories

Canvas Storage Accessories

I so liked the painted and doodled canvas cloth, about which I posted last week, I wanted to more of it. So, I did. This time I used Dr. Ph. Martin's India ink. I diluted the ink quiet a bit as it is highly pigmented and covered both sides of the canvas cloth with it. When it dried, I used Prisma brush pens to draw the doodles. I finished it with a lot of highlights using white acrylic paint. This time I wanted to  make a couple of storage items with it. I made a zippered pouch and a storage bin. Both came out quiet well, especially the zippered pouch. I was concerned that my junky Singer Esteem II will not cooperate using a zipper foot but much to my surprise it did. Now I am emboldened to make more of these pouches as I have about a dozen of metallic zippers left over from a previous project. I feel quiet excited about it :)

Linked to Paint Party Friday. Thanks to Eva and Kristin for hosting.

Painted, Doodled and Stitched Storage Bin

Painted, Doodled and Stitched Zipper Pouch

Doodling on Ceramic Tiles

Do-Something-Everyday, Sept 8, 2016

These are mandala doodles I created on ceramic tiles that were left over from a kitchen renovation project. I did several of them one weekend. All the drawings were completely improvised and done without any tools except Sharpie markers. They are not permanent, of course. They can be wiped off completely with nail polish remover and replaced with a brand new drawing. This impermanence appeals to me. It makes me bolder in how and what I draw.

Linked to Paint Party Friday. Thanks to EVA and Kristin for hosting.

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Tripoli Triptastic and the Leaf

I am sure you have figured out by now that I like painting leaves. This was a huge leaf that has turned completely yellow with hints of rust here and there but was still supple and soft. After I finished painting it, I felt that it needed something more but could not decide what. When I found out that this week's challenge at I am the Diva czt was Tripoli, I decided to surround the leaf with bits of Tripoli in combinations with other patterns. The mosaic patterned pot was entirely accidental.

Below are a couple of shots of my studio as it looked in the morning light.

Linked to Paint Party Friday and Iamthedivaczt and Art Journal Journey.

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Art Coloring for Adults

You may know by now that I love creating pyrographic art. But, my approach is a little different from the traditional way of creating wood burned art. Mine is more like zen doodle art--dense patterns that are colored later. I spent a very busy time this week creating several pieces to put in my Etsy shop. I made them similar to adult coloring pages except that mine are on wood. I think it is cool because after it is colored it can actually be hung on a wall. Along with each wood piece, I printed a paper copy of it and colored it to give an idea of how to work it on the wood. You can see below what I did it.

Here is the link to my Etsy shop.

In other news, I did this small piece of art to meet two challenges: Iamthediva zentangle challenge and Art Journal Journey November challenge.

I am also linking this post to paintpartyfriday.

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Doodle by Any Other Name

As a young school girl, I was an incorrigible doodler. I would fill up every available empty space in text books and notebooks with drawings of flowers, leaves and butterflies. It annoyed my mother very much and she would remark "scribbling hand means an empty head". Contemporary mind-body research confirms that she was right but not exactly in the way she meant it. I am not sure what caused me to be such a doodler but the habit has continued. The photo above on right is a page from a notebook from the 80's when as a young homemaker on a tight budget I used to keep detailed account of income and expenses. Perhaps, it was worry or hopefulness about money that caused me to doodle flowers around the numbers. I doodle a lot while in meetings not out of boredom but to hear closely what is being said or not said. I also doodle while thinking through a difficult problem. I have noticed that I don't break out for doodling while making art!

Today, doodling has not just achieved mainstream respectability but has even been elevated into a spiritual movement, albeit with a great commercial potential. It has metamorphosed from childhood deviancy to therapy for senior citizens. Along the way, it has acquired a prefix (Zen) and a couple of suffixes (tangle, art).

Whatever it is, I am happy to be part of it. I wonder what my mother would say to the fact I have even published my doodle art in a prestigious mixed-media magazine (photo above on the left in Zen Doodle Workshop from Cloth Paper Scissors, Summer 2015). I have a feeling she will be proud no matter what her personal opinion about it was.

If you want to see more of my "doodle art", click on the Zentangle Inspired Art tab at the top of the page or click on this link.

Submitted for PPF.

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Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is one of my most favorite celebratory days. To honor all mothers of this world, human and non-humans, I did this art with my favorite elephants. Happy Mother's Day!

This is also a response to this week's challenge at I am the Diva. If you look carefully, you will find BRELA scattered in various places.

Enjoy and have a great Mother's Day! Here's another one the same theme.

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