I couldn't resist these 4X4 canvases with a deep edge so I bought them for a project with my students. After searching for a little inspiration I decided to try a single image with a bold color for the background.
First I sketched the subject onto the canvas in pencil. Then I went over the sketch with a sharpie and erased the pencil from the canvas. That way I could start with a nice clean canvas without any pencil smudge.
Then I painted the subject and left the white areas alone - using the canvas itself as the white. I let this dry before I added the background color.
The paintings will be quite striking because of the bold background color and also the one singular subject that takes up most of the canvas. I would open the subject up to whatever they want to draw, but it must take up most of the canvas and also be one single item. Animals, butterfly, heart, sun, anything will work. I am going to give them 4X4 pieces of paper to sketch on before they start drawing on the canvas.
The background should be a compliment to the color of the subject - for example a yellow lion would look great with a purple background, Orange butterfly, blue background. Reinforce complimentary colors.
Have fun!
