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Glue Painting On Canvas: Watercolor Art

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How to make some easy wall art using glue, acrylic paint, and water colors! This glue painting on canvas came out BEAUTIFUL!

I needed some wall art for my barn office that I just finished, and I saw a great idea for using glue mixed with black acrylic paint- PLUS I HAD ALL OF THE SUPPLIES! Woohoo! I LOVE how it ended up coming out. I was able to finish this up pretty quickly and it is gorgeous. I

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DIY Glue Painting on Canvas with Watercolors

Most of these glue art projects seem to be more abstract, but I wanted to add animal pictures to my walls, seeing I have an animal-assisted therapy practice. I don’t have a lot of art skills so I used a projector to give me the lines to trace. It was super simple and came out great.

Supplies:

  • Projector that has a zoom feature
  • Projector ceiling mount
  • Canva Horse Head design
  • Large canvas
  • Cheap art glue in a bottle
  • Black acrylic paint
  • Watercolors (I used the kids kind)
  • Paint brushes and water
  • I used other paint around the outside of the canvas.
  • Color Shift: Blue Flash | Brushed Metal …I’m only seeing these sold as sets with other similar colors. Honestly, I love them, they’re worth having if you paint a lot.

Step 1: Mix black acrylic paint into your glue bottle. Mix thoroughly. I just added black acrylic paint and mixed it in with the glue until I felt it was a good dark black. It didn’t take a lot.

Step 2: Draw your design with the black glue. I am not a great artist, but I CAN trace. I was able to use a projector to project the Canva horse head onto the canvas, then traced the outlet using the black glue.

Note: DO NOT USE PENCIL to outline first. I attempted it with pencil first and unfortunately it still shows up through the paint and glue. I’m frustrated, but it’s not super obvious so I’m ignoring it. I guess I could have tried to erase it first, but alas. I thought the paints would cover it. They did not.

An image of a horse head is projected onto a large white canvas. Someone's hand is holding a glue bottle filled with a mix of glue and black acrylic paint over the design, tracing the design with the black glue.
An image of a horse head is projected onto a large white canvas. Someone’s hand is holding a glue bottle filled with a mix of glue and black acrylic paint over the design, tracing the design with the black glue.

I added extra “zones” to the original design, and I also hand “drew” hearts as well. I made sure there were lots of different zones separated by the black glue lines so I could use different colors once I got to painting.

The horse head has been completely traced with black glue, and hearts were added around the horse head on the canvas.
The horse head has been completely traced with black glue, and hearts were added around the horse head on the canvas.

Step 3: Let the glue dry. I left it for a few days because it’s a LOT of glue and quite lumpy.

Step 4: Use water colors to paint between the different zones. I used a lot of different colors.

I started with red (which looks pink) and purple….

Here I have begun added red and purple watercolors to the hearts around the horse.
Here I have begun added red and purple watercolors to the hearts around the horse.

Then I worked in the green.

Here I have begun added green watercolors to the vines that make up the horse's mane.
Here I have begun added green watercolors to the vines that make up the horse’s mane.

Starting to add in brown… I tried to blend from the green to the brown.

Here I have begun added brown watercolors to the horse's head.
Here I have begun added brown watercolors to the horse’s head.

Step 5: I wanted something darker along the edges of the canvas so I used a couple of different paints that I had laying around to cover the outside front edges.

Colorshift, Brushed Metal along the edges…

Brushed Metal acrylic paint, being used along the edges of the white canvas.
Brushed Metal acrylic paint, being used along the edges of the white canvas.

Colorshift, Blue Flash inside the Brushed Metal.

Blue Flash Color Shift acrylic paint, being used along the edges of the white canvas, inside of the brushed metal.
Blue Flash Color Shift acrylic paint, being used along the edges of the white canvas, after the brushed metal.

Once those were added, I filled in a few more areas with blue and yellow watercolors.

Outer paint: Brushed Metal (Dark gray) Inside the Brushed Metal: Color Shift Blue Flash. Here I've started adding blue watercolors inside the two acrylic paints, between the horse head/hearts.
Outer paint: Brushed Metal (Dark gray)
Inside the Brushed Metal: Color Shift Blue Flash.
Here I’ve started adding blue watercolors inside the two acrylic paints, between the horse head/hearts.

Again- love love love how this came out. I want to make five more, but I ran out of glue!

Please share and pin this post! If you make this project, share it in our Stuff Mama Makes Facebook Group. We have regular giveaways for gift cards to craft stores. You can also tag me on Instagram @doityourselfdanielle; I love seeing everything you make!

DIY Glue and Watercolor Art: Horse Head and Hearts on a Large White Canvas. I used a projector to trace the image onto the canvas using glue mixed with black acrylic paint.

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