Mid-Century Art - From Thrift Store Art

One of the first places I hit in a thrift store is the art section.  Quite often you can find amazing art by random people that's perfect for your home OR you can find terrible art with an awesome frame that's perfect for a project like this!  Using some simple disposable DIY stencils and a couple of terrible $5 art pieces,  I was able to create some fun, mid-century inspired masterpieces perfect for my pad.  Since Alexander Calder is one of my favorite artists, I used his work as inspiration, but a quick internet search will give you tons of mid-century inspiration for a project like this!  If you don't love something, sweet friends, then just paint over it and turn it into something you do love!  

Also, don't forget to Make Your Mark!

Like jelly beans!

Love the touch of light blue in the upper right!

Paints I used for this project:

DecoArt Traditions Acrylics: https://bit.ly/2pFn3ag MY AMAZON STORE: https://www.amazon.com/shop/markmontano

Watch how to paint these here OR
Watch the video on my YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/7WEi3X8ixRA

Hope I didn't paint over a priceless masterpiece!

Make art, sweet friends!

Glittery Nature Silhouettes

I live in Los Angeles where everything is growing and blooming all the time!  Every week it seems I'm chopping, trimming and clipping the trees and plants in my yard.  Not long ago I decided to see if I could flatten some of the larger pieces between pieces of wood...like pressing flowers in a book, but BIGGER.  That's when my mind started spinning with ideas and I began experimenting with this process.  At first I tried using spray paint, but the pressure blew the leaves everywhere!  I was so happy to find that DecoArt had the perfect product for me.  Check out the video below to see what I used.  Get out there and make some art, my sweet friends, and don't forget to 

MAKE YOUR MARK!

 My nature gallery!

The glittery specs were hard to capture on film, but they look amazing in person!

I love the mix of colors here!

Watch how to make them here!

Nature's art gallery!

Vintage Art Blocks DIY

I love mystical art and you can find tons of vintage images on the internet to create these beautiful art pieces for your decor!  Just make sure to search for high resolution images so you get the best quality.  I've included the ones I used below so you can just print them out from here!  Try this technique with any holiday.  Just change up the colors and images and you've got something new.  My favorite part is the nailhead trim around the edges.  No need to frame!  Make a cluster of your favorite images, and don't forget to Make Your Mark!

 Anything with a crystal ball is for me!

 A fortune teller is always fun, too!

  

  Watch how to make them here!

Perfect for Halloween!  Enjoy!

Home Printer Pop Art DIY

When I first moved to NYC I was nearly penniless.  Like many college students, every cent I earned went toward rent, tuition and tons of top ramen!  To decorate my apartment I would repaint/recover furniture & lampshades found on the street, make floral arrangements from flowering trees in my neighborhood and enlarge vintage clip art images on the copy machine at my part time job.  I would tape the images together and create huge clip art posters for my walls and I absolutely loved the way they looked.  If I was lucky, sometimes I came across a refrigerator box and was able to mount the pieces on cardboard for an extra special look.  I wouldn't trade that time in my life for anything.  For this project I revisited my copy machine days, but this time I used 99c store frames for the separate pieces.  Use what you have, my friends, and don't forget to 

Make Your Mark!

 Nothing like a little Frida to inspire me!

Lady Gaga...Why not!

STUFF I USED

Gel Press

Gel Press Impressables Rose Mandala

Americana Acrylics

E6000 Plus

Dollar Store Frames

1/4" Plywood Base *Cut to the size of your 9 frames

Watch how to make these here!

Make ART!

Let's Make Art!

I wanted something a bit more whimsical for my kitchen so I decided to give the new DecoArt Premium Acrylics a go and paint something bright and happy.  Gotta be honest here, I'm not really a painter and when I sit down at a canvas, I'll use any paint that's within my reach.  We're talking house paint, outdoor paint, multi-surface.....whatever is in reach that has the color I want.  A few weeks ago DecoArt sent me their new line of tube acrylics and WOW are they lovely to work with.  The colors are just beautiful, too.  This painting was pretty easy and you could easily change the colors to match your decor.  Remember to sit down and get creative every once in a while, get your Bob Ross on and 

always Make Your Mark!

Why not hang art on the fence?

Watch how I painted it here!

 STUFF I USED

Canvas

Americana Premium Acrylics

Allure Dimension Design Adhesive Paint in Gloss Black

Paintbrushes

Template

 Print and use to sketch out the design

HERE'S HOW

1.  Using the template, sketch out the design on your canvas

2. Paint the lower half of the canvas in Pyrrole Red

3.  Paint alternating stripes in a mixture of Yellow Green Light and Titanium White

4.  Paint the rest of the stripes in a mixture of Cobalt Teal Hue and Titanium White

5. Paint several of the flowers with a mixture of Quinacridone Magenta and Titanium White and the outer edges with the pure Quinacridone Magenta and blend where they meet

6.  Paint the centers of the rest of the flowers with Vermilion Hue mixed with Titanium White

7. Paint the outer edges with Hansa Yellow Light

8. Blend the orange and yellow flowers with more Vermilion Hue

9.  Add more white to the mixture of Quinacridone Magenta and Titanium White and lighten the centers of the pink flowers

10.  Paint the leaves with Green Gold and Yellow Green Light and Titanium White

11.  Paint the stripes on the vase with Carbon Black

12.  Outline the flowers, leaves, stripes and vase in Allure Dimensional Design Adhesive Paint in Gloss Black

Nothing like an afternoon painting flowers in the back yard!

Let's Make Art!

I've been itching to make a painting lately and have been googling aboriginal dot paintings and the work of several artists including the work of Elspeth McLean.  You might know Elspeth from her incredible dotted rocks!  I've included a step by step tutorial below with photos, but it's much easier to watch the video and see exactly how this painting comes together.  Of course I used my Americana Acrylic paints because I LOVE them and I finished this painting off with ALLURE Dimensional Design Adhesive Paint because it made everything POP!  Have an awesome day and remember to Make Your Mark!

You know how much I love color!

Styled and ready to show off!

Watch how it comes together here!

STUFF I USED

Americana Acrylics

Allure Dimensional Design Adhesive Paints

Basic canvas

HERE'S HOW

1. & 2.  Squirt 3 background colors on the canvas, blue on bottom, white in the center and an orange on top, and then blend them together and let dry.

3. 4. & 5.  Paint bright green cactus leaves in the center and then shade on the left with dark green and highlight on the right with light green

6. 7. & 8. Paint orange cactus leaves on the left side of the canvas and highlight on the left with yellow and shade on the right with darker orange.

9. & 10. Paint black cactus leaves on the right side of the canvas and highlight them with gray on the left side of the leaves.

11. & 12.  Pencil in circles and semi-circles for flowers and then fill them in with white

13. 14. & 15.  On the right side of the canvas paint petals in light yellow starting on the outside of the white circle (covering the edges) and then working your way in with orange and then red in the center

*Continue filling in the flowers to your liking

16. & 17.  With the Allure, made dots around the leaves in contrasting colors

18. Paint larger dots on the leaves with more paint using a fine brush

Done!

Let's Make Art!

I've always loved Vera prints and patterns......Always!  So many artists are inspired by this amazing woman who dominated style in the late 50s, 60s and 70s.  Recently I found an amazing Vera scarf with the most beautiful flowers (see below) and I decided it would make a fun "Let's Make Art" video.  I love this classic 70s color combo, too!  I'm also pretty sure my parents had bedsheets in this pattern.  Remember.....Have fun. Make art. Make messes!

xoxo, Mark

I love color!

Try a smaller version and then go BIG

Follow along here to see how easy it is

Vera inspiration!

Allure Dimensional Design Adhesive Paint in black

Americana Acrylics in Tangerine, Foliage Green, Carousel Pink and Snow White

Canvas

Paintbrushes

My inspiration!  A 1970s Vera scarf

1.  Paint the entire canvas green

2.  Using the template below, pencil in the flowers and fill in the shapes with white

3.  Paint over the white with the tangerine on the sunflowers

4.  Paint the centers of each flower in light pink (mix white with carousel)

5.  Using the brush sideways, paint petals around the round flowers

6.  Use a light pink for the outside and go darker as you add rows toward the center

7.  Fill in the smaller flowers with different shades of pink

8.  Use the black Allure to create scallops in a circle for the center of the larger Tangerine flowers

9.  Outline the leaves and add veins in each petal

10.  Using a smaller scallop, create the centers of the round pink flowers

11.  Outline the petals starting in the middle

12. Outline the smaller blooms and add a dot in the center of each

Print out and use as a guide for the painting