When it comes to creating art, canvas has almost always been my go-to medium. Whether you’re painting, creating a collage, or doing something else artistic, canvas is great because it is a flat surface purchased ready for artistic use and to be hanged on any wall. However, over time, canvas expenses can add up. And above all, what college students need is a low-balanced budget, not one spiraling out of control due to unnecessary costs.
With this in mind, it’s good to know that there are other items easily accessible to little or no additional cost to create amazing works of art. Take for example that left over pizza box from the pizza you and your roommates ordered the other night. Rather than throwing out this wonderful piece of cardboard, it can be ripped apart in any fashion you wish or used as is to create whatever it is you desire. You can paint or cover the box completely, or you can leave that Domino’s logo to create a unique and rather “green” masterpiece.
Essentially any object in your home can be used as an artistic surface. For example, your boxes of cereal can be used in their box form to create a 3D item or you can collapse the edges of the box for a more flat surface. This goes for all other boxes, like a box of Wheat Thins or a box of fruit snacks. Even the cases your cans and bottles of soda come in can be used in some way. Even though many of these boxes have a logo that may be hard to cover unless you are decoupaging or covering the cardboard in some manner, having the logos there give your work of art a very unconventional and almost personal feel. It makes it so the audience can almost step inside the house of the artist as they now know what you’ve been eating, drinking, and buying.
Besides cardboard, other items can be used like crushed cans, labels, plastic bottles, and other containers. Using all of these household items is not only great because it’s cheap, but also because it’s great for the environment!
In the past, I have used many household pieces of cardboard, mainly from things I’ve eaten like boxes of pasta. I also have ripped pieces of cardboard from larger boxes in order to give my piece of art a more frayed and original look to it.
In general though, cardboard, despite where it comes from, makes for the perfect, inexpensive artistic surface. Whether you use pieces of cardboard from plain boxes or from the food or other items in your house, each piece of art becomes one all your own, infused with a small piece of yourself.
