My art teacher in college was an arrogant, self-absorbed brute.

What? Too dramatic?

Yes, you are probably right. After all, it was several decades ago, so I should have been able to work through all my collegiate issues by now. Right?

Still, I do hold him responsible for the fact that I never learned how to draw. This, of course, is laughable as I also believe that there is probably someone out there who could have taught me how to render a rough estimation of certain three-dimensional forms onto paper. But unfortunately, my college art teacher was clearly not that person. And after experiencing his kind of art, I lost most of my interest and all of my confidence.

I was a nervous freshman quite literally 1000 miles from home, and I did not find myself in a position to confront him on the fact that he was not meeting my expectations as the scholarly helpful, and kind educator I expected him to be.

His attitude seemed to be that I should already know how to render likenesses with pencil, pen, and paint. He appeared to think his job was to interpret what his students were saying in their “ART” and to impress upon us how imperative it was that our efforts said something interesting. For example, he would comment about the openness of a student’s blouse in a self-portrait assignment and make other less-than-appropriate comments during our awkward class discussions.

In one particularly vivid memory, he threw a wadded-up paper towel at my drawing and declared, “that looks like a piece of bird sh*t,” and then he walked away.

In truth, my drawing was a couple of uninteresting smudges on a piece of paper. So I suppose one could argue that he was being generous to suggest that it looked like anything at all. But considering that we were using a human model, I didn’t consider it a complement to either me or the subject of our assignment.

Thankfully most of our class time was spent in independent drawing or, in my case, scratching out rudimentary cave drawings. While I prepared in my head for the inevitable class discussions. I would picture myself in front of the class describing my sketches.

“Well, this one is saying, ME SLEEPY and, this one, ME HUNGRY ME START FIRE!

Fortunately for me, our esteemed professor decided early on that my pictures had absolutely nothing to say. So I was rarely called upon to explain the deeper meaning behind my ART.

And that, my friends, is why I paint like this.

I promise anyone can do it. And I assume that I have already made it pretty clear that no fine arts degree is required.

Step 1 – Supplies

For this simple technique, you need some paints, a few paper towels, and something to paint.

Step 2 – Select Paint Colors

There are no actual rules, but I use these guidelines. I start with a base color. My favorite base colors are these metallic spray paints. But any color or type of paint will work. Brush or spray your piece with the base color and allow it to dry.

Next, select a few acrylic paint colors and use a small piece of paper towel to blot on each color. Again there are no rules, but I usually start with the lightest shade and then add the darker colors.

You can add a little paint or a lot of colors. Blot, smudge, and smear it. Have fun, and don’t overthink the process.

Step 3 – Seal

This step is optional, but I like to add a shiny finish, so I put a top coat of DecoArt DuraClear gloss varnish on my projects.

I made these squares just to play around with the colors.

But there are lots of ways to use this technique in projects here are a few things I have made using this painting technique.

I hope you can appreciate all the deep meaning and expression in my work.🤣🤣🤣🤣

Happy Upcycling,

Cindy

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