I bought a 11 inch by 14 inch canvas on a whim and now I don't know what to do.

Ah, my problem exactly. I currently have a lot of spare time on my hands, and I was thinking I should use it to paint, since I haven't painted much this past year. But alas, I'm fresh out of ideas, and the ones I do get only seem good for a couple of hours.

Usually when I get dried up inspiration wise, I listen to music that puts images in my head. Maybe that would work for you?

I'm ok for inspiration.. I just don't know where to begin painting wise... I have no idea whether to sketch it on the canvas first and then paint and even then I have no experience... I'll try to find lessons online or old episodes of the joy of painting.

You do that. Are you using oil or acrylics?
Whatever the medium, I usually sketch directly on the canvas using charcoal.
For oil painting, there's this interesting technique I sometimes make use of where you paint using many transparent layers, adding shades and highlights between each coat of colour. You can also wipe off some of the paint unevenly with a cloth, adding a sort of nice worn look. Gives the finished work a soft Da Vinci-ish glow. It's very time consuming though, since you have to wait for each coat of paint to dry before applying the next.

Whichever's on sale.

Acrylics are less expensive but dry faster and are harder to blend once you put them on the canvas. You also can't get the "finished" look without plenty of layers on them. I'd recommend them though if you're a beginner or just looking for a hobby.

With oil paints, you'll want to put a layer of gesso (a white acrylic base paint that keeps the oil from decaying the canvas quickly) and you'll need to buy some mineral spirits or paint thinner to dilute the paint with.
Start with a very thin layer of brown (mostly spirits) and wipe it over the entire canvas with a paper towel or cloth. Build up from there with less and less spirits each time for thicker paint.

If you don't want to paint though (ie save money) you could always collage or do a 3D piece on the canvas. Some origami glued to it or model magic if it has a strong enough base can create a really neat, giant pop-out book effect.



/art major jabber

feel free to continue your art major jabber. I'm clueless.