Easy Impasto paintings for less than $10

My grandmother was a very talented oil painter in Scotland, and I like to think I inherited a bit of her talent for brushwork. But since I have so many creative interests — sewing clothes, woodworking, quilting, needlework, interior decorating, scrapbooking, pyrography — I don’t spend nearly enough time working on becoming a better painter.

I took two sessions of oil painting classes last year and really want to find the time to go back. (Let me know when the days start being 30 or so hours long.)

A technique I’ve always wanted to learn is called impasto. Vincent Van Gogh was amazing at this. It’s where the paint is applied in thick layers, sometimes with a knife, and can even be mixed right on the canvas. Then the paint dries, impasto gives it this amazing texture — swirls and ridges that pop right off the canvas.

While I haven’t yet done much impasto painting, I discovered a hack that gives you a similar appearance with a totally different, unexpected, and CHEAP medium that’s available anywhere home improvement supplies are sold …

Continue reading in my weekly DIY column, My Handmade Home …