It’s time to get started with your holiday shopping, and I’ve got a great idea for someone who loves art but doesn’t have the time or talent to pursue painting or drawing as a hobby.
By now, you’ve seen the wide assortment of adult coloring books that seem to have sprung up in every bookstore, craft shop and general merchandise store. These pictures are a fun, relaxing way to unleash your creativity. However, once you’ve finished one, you either post it on the refrigerator alongside your toddler’s masterpiece or quietly tuck it in a catchall drawer of papers, rubber bands and unused stationery.
The latest updated version of this fun pastime is the adult coloring canvas. Not your Grandma’s paint-by-number kit, it’s a canvas you can complete any way you choose. With dozens of subjects available, they make perfect gifts for anyone who enjoys self-expression.
A Gift For Almost Anyone
This gift is great on so many levels. It’s perfect for the person who has everything, someone who wants to create but has little skill or patience to learn painting or as a gift for someone who is recovering from an illness or injury and needs something to help pass the time.
Although not suited for small children, older children, tweens and teens will enjoy these canvases too. The black, bold outlines are also good for elderly artists, whose eyesight may not be as clear as it once was.
Coloring Canvas To Decorate Any Room
Now a not-so-aspiring artist can proudly display a completed work of art in a far more prized place of honor than the kitchen refrigerator. This professionally stretched canvas can be mounted in any artist’s frame.
For a fresh, modern look, paint the outside edges black and hang it without an additional frame. Another common framing option is to simply tack wooden strips around all four outer edges of the canvas. The wood can be painted, stained or left untreated.
Since you’re in charge of the color scheme, you can use any color theme that blends with your decor. Limit your palette for a subdued appearance or go wild with every hue of the rainbow. It’s all up to you and your inner-artist.
Lions And Tigers And Mandalas, Oh My!
There are loads of different subject from which to choose. With lots of animals, flowers, butterflies and decorative sayings that will appeal to your aspiring artist friend, you may have a hard time choosing only one.
These generally whimsical, complex drawings are a delight to paint or color. The subject matter is diverse as well as the size availability. Most canvases range from 8″x10″ to 24″x30″.
Choose Your Medium
These canvases will accept a number of different mediums. Acrylic paint is often used for painting on canvas, and the coloring canvases are primed and ready to accept acrylic or even oil paint.
A non-messy option is permanent markers. They’re available in zillions of colors, in both wide and fine widths. There’s even some that are double ended with a fine tip on one side and a wide tip on the other.
Another option is using watercolor pencils. These pencils go on dry like any colored pencil. However, you can go back into the colors with a wet brush and give your piece a translucent, watery appearance that’s very painterly.
Other mediums to consider are gel pens, colored inks, colored pencil and oil pastel. Since not all of these mediums are permanent and waterproof, one should investigate the proper method of permanently protecting the completed painting. These methods may include a coat of clear, spray polyurethane, mounting the completed piece under glass or Plexiglas or coating the finished work with Modge-Podge.
