DIY abstract painting

After my pep talk to self last week (and more job searching), I have jumped into high gear with decorating, re arranging, and re-doing. On the top of my list was the 9x12 wall  behind our couch. To be fair it has a fireplace on it that I would categorize as a hole in the wall and the bane of my existence. So my couch is now covering it.  I have been looking into abstract art but it is so expensive! I can also see myself in 5 years wishing I had invested in a more traditional piece. So I took it upon myself to make my own! I am no artist but after some research and a few Michaels coupons (get the app!), I dove in and I am pretty happy with the result.

These are the acrylic paint colors I settled on. I ended adding a tan color the next day. I liked these because I could blend them pretty well. They were also the cheapest

I practiced on reynolds freezer paper (its wax back doesn't let the paint bleed through) and  on smaller canvases to get an idea of what I wanted.  A 3x4 canvas was too daunting to start with. I settled on using a mix of the tan and pale pink for the background. It helped me not going overboard by covering every white space.

I did this is four steps
 1) background: which I relied on to give the painting some texture by using strokes going in every direction
 1.5) drink some wine for inspiration
 2) first layer: as you can see I didn't mix the colors too much. just trying to get a base

the light in our house is terrible. it is Washington after all

 3) more layers and mixing: I also realized my bar stools were the perfect height to prop up the canvas.

and Craig is watching the olympics....

4) something was missing  so I sent a couple picture messages to friends/ mommas to ask what it was. Someone suggested more blue and then it was complete!

Now I need to get art to surround it

I estimate the whole project cost me about 50 after I used all my coupons which I am pretty happy with! What do you think of my art project?

ps. go to the google homepage today, so fun!