Welcome back! Today I’m going to be showing you how to make a gorgeous textured canvas with a wavy, water look. My daughter wanted something small for her room and the colors she picked were blues & greens so it just made sense to me to go for a water look. The colors are so nice and calming, and I couldn’t wait to see how the project was going to turn out!
So to start with, I’ve made a supply list for you. For the canvas, choose any size you like. She just wanted a tiny one, but this could easily be done on a much larger scale. And for the varnish being optional, I opted to use it because I wanted an even finish on it. I also used a spray on, but you can choose to use a paint on varnish if you like.
About the paper towel: this step is not necessary if you go easy on the paint, but I did not and I also LOVE how the little circles in the paper towel left a textured look on the canvas! You can really do this with anything you like: scrunched up plastic bag, honeycomb texture, use your imagination. 
So here’s how to get this done: First of all, you need to spread out the gesso (or drywall mud – your choice) on the canvas. Make sure that it’s thick enough to create some texture after it’s one. I used an icing spreader from my cake decorating box (which has now been permanently moved into the shop 
) but you can even use your hands if you like. Once this has been done, put some rubber gloves on if you haven’t already and kind of mush the texture through your fingers all over the canvas. You should end up with a wavy look.
Now you need to let this dry. Gesso takes a long time so I would recommended overnight, but if you’re using drywall mud you should be able to work with it within a few hours.
Now you need to get your paint colors out, and squeeze some out onto a flat surface. Use a few different colors but don’t mix them yet, you will do this with your paint brush. Start at the bottom with a darker color, paint a somewhat strait line, and then mix in a tiny bit of white to dilute the color for the next line. Keep doing this. I went from blue to green but you can use all blues, all greens, or go nuts and use some other color like pink! It’s your art, make it your own. There is no wrong way to do this, and if you don’t like it: let it dry and start over again. 
Once you have your color layers, use a fresh brush to blend them in with each other. At this point I used the paper towel to soak up some of the extra paint and add the textured look, and then added some more streaks of whites/blues/greens in. Just keep blending until you get the desired layers, and then press the paper towel into the paint again.
Now you just need to let it completely dry, and then apply the varnish if you like. Again this step is optional but I love the look. I think it just makes it look finished.
Once the varnish dries (wait a day or so), then it’s ready for it’s new home!!
Have you tried this? If so, I would love to see how yours turned out! You can leave your comments below, or you can also find this in video form on my YouTube channel or on my Instagram page.
What do you think? Thanks for checking this out!! 
