Paint with Me: Gather Inspiration

I've been cooking up this blog series for months to help you create your own artwork! When I can't find or afford artwork that's just what I'm looking for, I usually just paint it myself. When I say that, most people look at me like I've gone crazy and say, "Oh, I could never do a painting!" Well, I'm here to tell you that you can! Really! Join me as I go through the process of painting a picture and see for yourself that you can do it, too! :) 

Now, I'm not saying I'm an amazing painter or anything! My grandma took many painting classes and has done dozens of paintings. She has an eye for art and picks up on shadows and lighting all around her as if all the world is a painting waiting to happen. Growing up, she taught me how to paint and did several paintings with me. I really cherish those days of painting with her. I know some about painting from her, but definitely am not good enough to really know every technique and be an amazing creative. If I'm not sure how to get a look I want, I wing it. I experiment until I get it how I want. I'm no Bob Ross, but I hope it inspires you to take chances and experiment with paint! 

Today, I'll walk you through the first step of the process, and hilariously, the longest step for me...

Most of the paintings I've done have been inspired by something in my life. That's part of the beauty of doing your own painting--creating meaningful artwork. Not every painting has to have a deep meaning, though. I've done a couple just because I thought it was pretty and would go well with my decor. I'll walk you through a couple of the paintings I've done and the meaning behind them to give you some examples. 

Here's the first painting I did by myself without Grandma's help. We had just moved from Florida and I wanted something beachy in our apartment. It's far from perfect, but I loved the palm tree. It looked very similar to a palm tree down the street from my house in Florida that I admired frequently. 

Excuse the photo quality and the mess! This was before my DSLR days.

When we moved into our first home, we needed something large for above our couch. I had just made the switch from beachy colors to jewel tones (And now I'm back to beachy! Ha!) and didn't have anything that would work, so I came up with my own painting. It was actually really easy! I had it over our couch for the three years we owned that house, then it was over our fireplace at this house until last year! Again, it's far from perfect, but the colors and style were exactly what I was wanting. 

Remember this painting I did for Little Girl's room? You can read the full story here, but I really wanted a verse to pray over her. I loved this verse and simply used her crib bumper for the design and color inspiration. I did this painting with simple craft paints!

This summer, I painted this little number inspired by the World Market painting I included in the mood board I did back in this post. I painted it as a birthday present for my grandma. The meaningful part was simply doing a painting for her. She loves that I continue to paint. It's a special thing we share and behind it, there are lots of memories of us painting together. I really liked the World Market painting and thought something similar would be bright and cheery for her room.  

And, of course, the painting I posted yesterday. Again, done in simple craft paints! 

So, whether it's a meaningful thing or place, a verse or quote you love, or simply a color palette you're working with, there's inspiration all around you! 

Up next--Planning!