Top 10 Unusual Painting Materials

Artists use different tools for their trade. If you are a starving artist, well, you use what you can. Anything around the house will do. Let’s look in the refrigerator. Hmm, maybe that furry cottage cheese. No, too lumpy. Spaghetti sauce? No, got to use that with supper tonight. I got it. Jelly! Mix it with some peanut butter and you’re set. Why are you laughing at me? I’m serious. Well, okay, maybe it’s not the best idea. Let’s take a look at what some other artists use as paint.

Coffee drinkers everywhere, unite! Not just for giving you that caffeine buzz, you can create works of art while you drink it! No more spending money on tubes of paint. Just stop in at your local Starbucks, order an Espresso, and you’re set! Put that extra energy to use and your muse will be thrilled. If you get thirsty, just lick the paintbrush! Just imagine the kind of profits you’d get from the sale of those paintings. Would you like cream and sugar with that portrait?

Image Credits: sammo371

Ketchup packets, fries, a Big Mac and you are ready for lunch! Unless you’re feeling creative. Eat the Big Mac to stop your stomach from growling. Use the fries as your brushes and the ketchup as, you guessed it, paint. Sure it’s all red but so is Ronald McDonald. I don’t think he would mind if you painted his portrait. While you’re at it, why not do a self-portrait with your mouth full of French fries?

Ketchup Painting Video

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Have you ever finished roofing your house and wondered what to do with the leftover tar? Don’t throw it out. You don’t have to buy a spare tire. You could bake a really big donut and cover it with tar. If you add some linseed oil to it, you have the perfect paint. Sure it’s smelly and messy to use, but it’s great for oil paintings. Imagine what they would look like with a tar background. It would definitely stand out. Just don’t leave them lying on the ground. Someone might be tempted to drive over them.

You just finished changing the fluids in your car. Now you have to dispose of the oil. For most people, this means jumping into your vehicle, driving across town just to find a place that will recycle it. Save yourself the headache. You can use it to take the gray out of your hair, slick it back greaser style, or even grease up your garbage cans to keep out the local furry critter. It also makes the perfect paint. There is nothing blacker than used motor oil. Imagine the money you will save. You will even be helping to clean up the environment at the same time.

Your eccentric grandfather left you in his will. Instead of giving you part of his estate or some money, he leaves you his large supply of gunpowder to protect yourself from little green men. Now you could use it for seasoning meat in place of salt. But if you are feeling artistic, why not use it as paint like Cai Guoqiang does. The Chinese use gunpowder for celebrating holidays with firecrackers. Considering it to be a natural medium, Cai uses gunpowder to create wonderful works of art. So using it will not only get rid of the gunpowder but will also give you an alibi in case you accidentally blast that pesky neighbor’s cat. “No, officer. I couldn’t have possibly done such a thing. I was in my studio painting the whole time!”

Exploding art

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Are you getting tired of cleaning up after your pet elephant? Is the pooper scooper just too small to get rid of all that dung? Before your neighbors start voting to make your house the smelliest on the block, British painter, Chris Ofili, has your solution. Put a clothes pin on your nose and smear that stuff on some canvases. Chris Ofili has made his mark on using elephant dung as a paint medium. So can you. Sure it will draw every fly from the neighborhood but hey, you can use them too. Watch your neighbors fight over themselves to be the first to have a portrait made from elephant droppings!

If you are looking for your fifteen minutes of fame in the artistic world, then do what Pete Doherty does. Use blood as your medium. Doherty has been painting with human blood for years. Recently he was arrested, caught in the act of sticking a needle in a young woman’s arm by a photographer. He stands accused of shooting heroin in the lady’s arm. His defense is that he was drawing blood from her to create a painting. If his defense works, hundreds of drug addicts have a way to beat the system and get out of jail! No, your Honor, I was not shooting up. I was getting my paint supplies!

If drawing your own blood makes you a bit dizzy, try rattlesnake blood. Let’s face it. Snakes can be deadly and a bit of a nuisance. Not only can you use the blood for paint but the meat is tasty too. The Blood Artist, Jack Crowley, has been using it for years to paint his pictures. He calls it “creative recycling” and sees nothing wrong with using snake blood and the meat for food. Nothing goes to waste. If you live in Arizona, you will have an endless supply of paint and enough venom to make your own antidotes when you get bit!

A day at the beach can be fun and relaxing. That is until you bring half the beach home with you. Sand in your shoes, your hair, and your bathing suit bottom! Put that sand to use and release your creative side. Sand painting made artist, Kseniya Simonova, famous on “America’s Got Talent” in Ukraine. You can even take your work with you to the beach! No more spending hours on end cooped up inside your house. Get a tan while playing in the sand.

Impressive Video of a True Artist

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Have you ever plugged up the toilet from taking a dump? Tired of plunging it down the crapper? Martin Von Ostrowski is known for using bodily fluids as his paint mediums. He has created Hitler and other dictators from human feces. Needless to say, you can imagine the artist’s opinion about the well-known dictator of Germany. Talk about a shitty attitude! Make your own paintings. Of course, the crap has to sit for a while stinking up the place. Depending on how regular you are, you might have to throw some stuff out of the fridge to make room for the poop, it has to stay fresh you know. If you need some color variation, try switching over to baby poop for that nice green color. No need for paint thinner, just wait till you have the squirts and use that to water down your poop paint.

What do you get the person who has everything? Try a semen painting from Martin Von Ostrowski (again). Known for using bodily fluids as his paint mediums, he has created paintings from semen mixed with the crap above. His exhibition in Berlin is made from his semen which acts as a pigment and glossy finish. He just masturbates on the canvas and spreads the love.

However, using semen as pigment for paintings is a tough choice since Ostrowski has had to “create” all the materials for more than 30 paintings since 2003. The museum said on its website touting the exhibition that opened December 18, 2008:

You might want to invest in some razors for your hairy palms but imagine your friend’s surprise of a gift that keeps on giving. So pump some iron to get those arm muscles ready. It’s going to be a long night!