Jennifer Rizzo

A DIY,home decor,crafting and decorating lifestyle blog

How to do a fun acrylic painting of an Agate-inspired pattern….

By

Here’s a little known facts about me,I have a side to me that is a complete science geek which makes me love this agate-inspired pattern even more. I started collecting rocks when I was about 12 years, and then when I hit 14,  I continued kind of secretly until my 20’s, when it wasn’t  a very cool thing to do. 🙂 It’s actually how I started making jewelry when I was around 14. I would go to rock shows(not the cool concert kind) and buy gem stones and findings and make creations in my parent’s dark basement for hours. I even subscribed to Rock and Gem magazine. Oh, what was that,what’s hanging out? Oh, my inner geek is showing? Let me tuck that back in, Thanks.:)So, there is still that inner rock lover in there and I thought it would be kind of fun to see if I could mimic the natural patterns of agate in an acrylic painting.  I love learning new art techniques with natural form like String Pull Painting to make an abstract canvas.

(This post contains affiliate links)

How to make art with an agate-inspired pattern. Easy tutorial and fun painting technique!

I also noticed it sloooowly creeping into home decor as well, like on this pillow, so I wanted to show you how to paint this fun acrylic painting of an agate-inspired striated pattern on canvas. You know I love a good painting project!  Like how I used Pouring Medium to make this realistic faux marble table!

Or How to Paint Birch Trees

How to paint an agate inspired paintingI kind of like this project for how fun and messy it is too! And it makes  nice piece of modern,abstract art.

If you don’t want to make agate art, you can find beautiful,similar art canvases here and here. You can also grab this free abstract art printable here.

I was very inspired by the patterns in both Blue Agate

and Malachite

I decided on the Blue agate for this canvas.

You can watch this video for the basics of the technique, and then see the step-by-step below.

It’s really easy, but very messy! So if you like getting paint on your hands, this project is FOR YOU! You can also see how to paint a brush stroke abstract painting as well.

Draw lines with your paint to make an agate canvas patternStart by using your paint tubes and “drawing” lines on your canvas, one after the other in the pattern on your “inspiration” stone.

Make a fun agate inspired canvas with acrylic paintAfter you’ve drawn all of your lines, have everything ready. You’ll need lots of newspaper under your canvas to catch the paint you pull off the edge, and a piece of cardboard. I just used  a box flap.

Drag your cardboard across the paint for an agate patternStart at the edge, and with firm and even pressure, pull your flap across your paint, with a bit of a scoop movement to make the agates “waves”.

Drag your card board across your paint to make your patternHere’s a view from the other side.You might have to re-drag once or twice, but don’t re-drag too many times, it blends the paint too much and you lose some of your line definition. I had that happen with my first pattern and I learned better for my second!

The extra paint with making lines for an agate inspired canvasSee how much paint your end up dragging off?

Paint covered handsIf you doing acrylic painting right, your hands will always look like this. 🙂

Let your first set of striations dry.

Start a second one once your paint is dryOnce your paint is dry, you can start on your second pattern the exact same way.

A straited pattern with layered paintIf you do it right and don’t over-blend, you get a great 3-D effect.

I ended up lining the edges of all of my ‘rocks’ with gold paint to tie everything together.

I also mixed up the colors and patterns a little bit. It was really fun even if it does waste a ton of paint.

easy DIY agate inspired art

I like the pattern on the bottom right the best. It looks the most realistic.3rd times the charm!

I spray painted a little glass dish I had with some gold spray paint to go along with it.

gold and metallic glasware as accesssoriesI just love the organic feel to it.

Easy DIY rock inspired patternand it ended up being a really fun project and a fun technique to pay with.

Love the pattern?You can find an agate-inspired pillow here.

For another fun technique, you can learn here how to make a stenciled linen pillow

How to make stenciled linen pillows

Microsoft Word - Document2 2Let us help you grow your kitchen table business!!!

Building a creatively made business 2.0If you likes this post you might also like:

How to paint an artist's palatte inspired lmap shade

DIY-Birch-Flower-Vase

YOu can paint a nest a step by step tutorial

Comments

  5. This is such a cool technique. I am an undercover rock lover too. (but I guess I just blew my cover… oops.) You can find geodes and quarts all over my house. Maybe I should add a painting like this to my rock collection.

  6. I am thinking this would be awesome with amethyst colors! I need something to hang on my bedroom walls.

  9. I’m curious if you moved your trowel in the same wavy motion as you laid out the paint lines or if you pulled straight across the canvas to get this result? I’m willing to experiment but given the amount of paint that gets used, I’d like to experiment less and get it right more!

  11. Hello Jennifer,
    I was wondering if you care if I put a couple of your pictures above on my blog then a link to your page here so they can come here to see the directions? Also how do you do the middle. ? Thanks for sharing this.

  13. I like this idea, at first i was thinking waves in the ocean, you could DEFINITELY do waves with this technique as well. I also want to know if you mean that you swoop the cardboard to match the lines you drew with paint? I am assuming that you did not drag it straight, but followed the lines you drew, but I want to be sure. Also. I recommend having a spare canvas and then dragging the excess paint across the extra canvas. You can get 2 for one and not waste paint. What I do with the random background is put a vinyl monogram or letter on the background and give them as gifts. 🙂 Kids love things personalized with their initials. 🙂 I am definitely going to try this soon. I look forward to your answer.

Trackbacks

Categories

archives

website security    

***Create at your own risk!!****
Any content on this blog was created for inspiration and entertainment purposes only!
Creating with my or any contributors or guest writers suggested tools, methods, or suggested products is under the reader’s/your own risk.

***************************************
Please do not use any pictures or images off my blog without credit and linking back. Blog name,company name,All original art work and projects are copyrighted and protected works. If we have used an image from your site and you would not like it featured or promoted, please let us know and we will remove it promptly.
*******************************************
I have been compensated for posts featuring products from sponsors such as Michaels Craft Stores and Decoart Brands, but opinions  in working with these are entirely my own, and all sponsored posts are disclosed as such. All other sponsored posts are noted at the end and disclosed. Some posts may contain affiliate links.