Tutorial - Making Panels to paint on

Anything can be a canvas for art - paper (graph paper, lined paper, blank paper, junk mail envelopes, cardboard, old blueprints, paperboard (think cereal boxes), index cards...well, you get the picture! But, if you are wanting something hard to make art on, you can use Masonite, which is a thin 1/4" brown board (it also is the same stuff that pegboard is made out of) that comes in 4x8 sheets (sometimes smaller too) and you can find it at Home Depot or Lowes in the lumber area (usually). They will usually cut it into smaller pieces for you - just ask!

I wanted to share a tutorial I just found on how to finish a piece of masonite so that you can use it as a canvas. You'll need gesso, which is white (but also comes in clear) and is an opaque, white, thick paint-like coating. You can find it at arts and crafts stores.

Here's the tutorial, from artist Debbie Miller's blog.

Jon Burgerman Amazing Doodler!

This UK artist does a lot of neat stuff! I found him at the Sharpie Uncapped site and searched for him on Youtube. He's got a lot of videos of him making art. I like the idea of having a large wall of glass (I'm not exactly sure what he's drawing on in the video, but it looks like a mirror glass) and having kids make their art right on it. Dry erase markers would totally work and being that the canvas is glass, the art can be seen from both sides and kids can even make art on both sides of the glass canvas and see how their artwork combines with the person's on the other side. Enjoy! If you want to see more of his videos, just go to youtube and search 'Jon Burgerman'.

Sharpie UK at London Fashion Weekend

Everyone loves Sharpies! Even though a Sharpie in the unsupervised hands of small children has the potential to have frightening results, Sharpies are THE mark maker when it comes to drawing and doodling on canvas! Here's a great idea that just came through the Sharpie Blog. Read all about how a booth stocked with blank canvas tote bags, lots of Sharpies and the creatively hungry makes for a great time!

Sharpie UK at London Fashion Weekend