Leftover Paint and Accidental Art – The Second Canvas Habit
Hi everyone!
Today’s post here in GEMS is a little different. It’s sort of about my art process, and sort of about using waste paint.
Basically, when I’m painting, I often have a second small canvas sitting next to the main one — mostly just to wipe brushes on or get rid of leftover colour mixes.
But sometimes… something odd happens.
By the end, I’ll look over and there’s this slightly abstract, weirdly moody little painting sitting there — full of happy accidents.
Sometimes they even look like something.
And here’s the funny bit — I cannot for the life of me paint like that when I want to. If I try to recreate that same looseness or spontaneity, it just looks forced.
So this process has become a sort of de-stress ritual for me.
sometimes i go back in with gold paint.. as you can see and just edit a tiny bit...
I know it is a "waste" of canvas, but meh... i don't care.
The Concept
Because I’m not trying to make anything, the painting kind of evolves on its own.
Forms start to appear, tones mix together, and every now and then I’ll spot something — a horizon line, a tree, maybe a lake — and I’ll go in and tweak it just a bit to help it along.
sometimes its just colours that make me happy... and without the forcing of the painting sometimes i really like them.
sometimes i just use the canvas as a background and paint over it... like when you need texture and paint and colour UNDER a painting... sometimes its easy having a "preprepared one"
often this happens a lot and i end up with cool skies... they can be helpful...
Yesterday’s Painting
So yesterday, while I was painting a pear (the main piece for the OCA post), this second little canvas started to look like a forest again.
It makes sense, really — I was using darker shadows, greens, yellows, and browns… and next thing I know, there’s a little landscape forming all by itself.
I ran with it.
I took a couple of quick photos of the process — and at one point I looked up a similar one I’d done before just to compare. I’m not sure that was a great idea, because now it feels like I copied something.
Still, it was all intuitive. Just colours doing their thing.
Different Days, Different Methods
Sometimes I do it differently.
Instead of wiping as I go, I’ll use whatever paint mixtures are left on the palette after the main painting’s finished.
Those become these sort of “line style” abstract pieces — layered, messy, and random, but still oddly balanced.
These are a few older ones. I honestly can’t even remember what main paintings they came from anymore — though sometimes I can tell just by looking at the colours.
My Little Theory
I think of these like a writer’s margin scribbles — those side notes that happen while you’re focused on something else.
They’re not planned or polished, but they capture something raw.
Anyway, that’s today’s little insight into my process — my side-canvas habit, where I let paint do its own thing and see what appears.
Thanks for reading!
If you’ve ever done something similar — like accidental art or palette-play pieces — tell me about it in the comments!
– BLINGIT
Below are just an assortment of the thinks i have been doing in this daily painting challenge i have been doing
Below are just more pictures
