There is no reason that beautiful artwork for your home has to be a huge investment. You can find gorgeous art and prints for reasonable prices, and you can also make your own artwork. Don’t stop reading, thinking that we’re going to suggest craft projects that look like something your kids made in Kindergarten. To the contrary, these projects offer you the look and feel of designer art without the huge expense.
Try multi-paneled art pieces such as the following:
- Diptych: A diptych (pronounced dip-tick) is a two-paneled piece of artwork.
- Triptych: A triptych contains three panels.
- Polyptych: The term polyptych is used to describe paneled artwork with four or more panels. These might be hinged together or simply hung near one another.
With all of the above, the panels are usually displayed side by side, but in some cases, each panel can also stand alone. As the artist, you are free to decide. You may want to decorate a large space now, yet later when you change decor, you might still want to be able to use one or more pieces. You may want to plan a design that makes a great triptych, yet still works as three stand-alone pieces of art.
Which example you choose will depend quite a bit on the size wall you want to accessorize. For a small area, you might want to make a small diptych. For a large, empty, wall, an oversized triptych may be perfect.
Decide on a medium, such as light pieces of wood, plastic, or Plexiglas. I prefer pre-stretched painter’s canvases. Purchase the correct number of pieces for your project. You may select pieces that are all the same size, or you may want to use different widths for a less symmetrical effect.
Lay the canvas out flat, with each piece up against the next. Sketch a design across all two, three, or four (or more) pieces, as if they were one piece. If you don’t draw, use transfer paper or a projector to establish the design on the canvases. Fill the lines in with paint, separate the canvases and hang them a few inches from each other once dry. It is best to hang artwork at or near eye level.
If you simply don’t do art, consider purchasing similar pieces. Diptychs, triptychs, and polyptychs also work great in children’s rooms and nurseries. You can create a cute design or whimsical scene to dress up an entire wall. This is a great way to expand on the mural idea mentioned previously, only this way your art is portable, so you can move it to another wall, another room, or another home, as needed. You can also repaint to update the design, as your children get older.