Newsprint Tape Painting

I have been working on this painting for ages, but that’s only because I usually only have time to paint a few lines at a time. It is actually kind of the perfect project for a busy person because it doesn’t demand more than 5 minutes at a time. It’s been really fun watching it take shape, and yesterday I decided that it is finally finished!

The word newsprint might be a little misleading…this is actually the phone book! They keep appearing on our doorstep year after year, and I was determined to make something out of them. I started by pulling out a few pages and affixing them to a canvas with ModPodge. I diluted it just a bit with water and then used a broad brush to apply it to the canvas before putting the pages on, and then I put a few more coats on top until the pages were secured.

I played around with them a bit until I had them arranged in a little sunburst pattern.

This is what it looked like after the first coat of ModPodge. Getting there! I wrapped the excess paper around the back of the canvas and taped it down.

Here is the canvas ready to paint.

And here is the first line. Painter’s tape is a girl’s best friend, and it makes nice straight lines so easy to paint.

Here things are beginning to take shape. Somehow the newsprint made me go in a  tropical color direction. I’ve had some questions about paint lately, and I’m glad that it’s actually right here in the picture (along with a notebook and my laptop, for some reason). This is the very basic (ha!) acrylic paint I use, which is really easy to find and really affordable.

And that’s it! Now I just have to decide where to hang it.