Thrifty Art Idea: DIY Textured Canvas Art

I love doing projects just as much as the next DIYer, but sometimes we need a simple, and impactful one that is easy to do. The DIY textured painting I attempted in this blog post had all the potential to go wrong, but is a very forgiving process.

diy textured painting tutorial for putting spackle and joint compound on a canvas, landscape textured canvas art

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Table of Contents

Step 1-Canvas Size and Materials Needed for Textured Art

When picking your canvas size, I recommend measuring the space in which your textured canvas art is intended to hang. If you are using a previous canvas for which to use for plaster art, like I am, gather these materials:

canvas or a previously owned art piece
paint-I used a mixture of acrylic and latex I had in my crafting stash
joint compound
putty knife
paintbrush
texture maker-I used a paint spatula to make plaster artwork on the canvas
Some sort of sealer to protect your textured art

supplies for textured wall art or plaster art landscape artwork landscape wall art

Step 2-Laying a Base for the Plaster Artwork on Canvas

Making a DIY textured painting works with a new canvas or improving an old piece of artwork. A base coat of paint or primer helps to prep your surface for the textured art.

laying a base of white paint on the canvas before adding the spackle on my textured canvas art landscape oil painting textured diy wall art

I used some white latex paint I already had on hand. Latex paint, acrylic paint, or even primer will do, just something to give you a white base to work with.

Step 3-Applying Texture to Canvas

Now for the fun part! I used the putty knife to place small globs joint compound all around the canvas. It’s really easy to spread this way.

There is really no rhyme or reason to what you are doing, just smooth the plaster around til you are happy with the texture.

blobs of joint compound on the canvas before spreading it around to make textured wall art textured canvas art making a landscape canvas plaster art piece

This is when I took my paint spatula and started to play with the texture making the diy textured painting of your dreams! Or at least trying your best! Work quickly, there is not an unlimited amount of time before the compound starts to dry.

using a paint spatula to make texture with joint compound on my diy plaster canvas landscape textured wall art

You can also use something called Gesso for Acrylic Paint. It works in much the same way as joint compound or spackle. Add a light first layer onto the canvas and let dry.

This is the priming layer, so a base coat of paint or primer is not needed with this product. Add a second layer of gesso. While still wet, use your texture maker to make impressions and patterns before drying.

Step 4-Let the Plaster Art Dry

After you are happy with the texture of your textured canvas art, leave it to dry. I know this is hard, but I let mine dry for a good 2 days before I painted the design on my textured canvas art.

I thought it was dry after about 12 hours, but my daughter proved that wrong with her fingerprints in the wet compound.

Step 5-Paint Your Textured Wall Art

sealing the textured canvas wall art diy with some mod podge and a stencil brush to make it look like an original oil painting landscape diy textured painting

To add even more texture, you can mix acrylic paint with a little cornstarch. Another popular trend is to add flour or baking soda to your paint for added texture. One other element you can add to your paint for added texture is sand, specifically silica sand.

All of these elements add a gritty texture to your paint so your textured art can have even more depth. How much you add of any of these elements depends on your preference and how much paint you are using.

I painted a very abstract, looks good from far away, “landscape” but I’m really happy with how my DIY textured painting turned out. For paint, I used a mixture of latex paint and acrylics I had on hand at home. I chose not to use any extra texture in my textured painting.

Step 6- Seal Your DIY Textured Painting

It’s a good idea to seal your art. A clear sealant is ideal, such as polycrylic or a clear spray paint. I used mod podge and applied it in a circular motion to mimic the finish of an oil painting.

The canvas I used was an old, but large canvas from Ikea that used to hang in my son’s room. I didn’t like the picture anymore, so I decided to use it for my textured art. It came framed, so I used some rub n buff on the silver painted wood.

Final Results

textured canvas art landscape textured art final result mountain and trees and river blues and green tones

Here she is! I’m absolutely thrilled at my new and free diy plaster canvas. It looks so good here in my office. Yay for thrifty art made with items I had in my home! Let me know if you try this Textured Canvas Art for your home. It’s so easy!

Bye for now!