I loved the idea

Over a print or a similarly mass-produced work? Yes. Over someone's original creative work? No. If you leave it outside the trash or send it to a second-hand store, someone will take it home and love it.

Two things:
1.) You paint over furniture that you don't like so there's no reason to stop at paintings.
2.) I'm not sure there was anything wrong with the before. The after isn't an improvement, imho. It doesn't have to be representational but it has to be *better* than what you started with.
Of course, this is all in the eye of the beholder and if YOU like it, knock yourself out.

I agree with DodieGoldney, if its the original then no. If someone painted over one of MY pieces just because THEY didn't like it, I'd be devastated. Canvases are super cheap, so if you want a new piece of art, paint on a blank canvas and not another work. Furniture can always be sanded down and re-stained to look like they did originally. The lemon painting was kind of cute, I could see it working in the right room.

Since my husband is an artist, it is mostly his work that is on my walls. However I agree with DodieGoldney. Painting over a non-original piece of work is fine. If you do have an original piece, you can 1) give it back to the artist [most will be fine with this]; 2) donate it; 3) loan it to a library or someplace non-profit; 4) give it as a White Elephant exchange or a gift to someone with whom you aren't the closest.

I have done this to create work to put in my cottage. I like using Toni Grote http://artisttonigrote.blogspot.com/ as an inspiration. Creating art over found, ugly pieces = free art supplies/frames! I mix my paints with different mediums to create texturized workable acrylics. The texture helps hide the fact that I am creating over a piece. It looks like the above painting is using a heavy medium. When I am done, I add a few layers of Winsor and Newton finishing spray to amp up the gloss. This adds to the credibility. With a little creativity and time you have a great piece!

love the idea and have done it before.

I'm going to do this soon. We have a painting that's huge, and kind of just terrible looking. We got it as a gift and it's not our taste at all. It's been in storage for a year taking up space, and it never occurred to me until recently that I could just paint right over it.

Painting over someone's original artwork is so incredibly disrespectful. If you can't treat art with the respect it deserves you shouldn't own artworks. There are plenty of mass-produced prints that I'm sure suit anyone's taste and if you want to try your hand at painting, canvases are cheap and easy to find. But painting on someone's work is just a slap in the face to all artists.

Historically, artists did reuse canvases -- their own and those of others. Not everything daubed on canvas is "art". If a painting belongs to you and you believe it is of no value ( to you or to others), why not reuse it? There are "artists" who destroy or deface things as part of their "art". Where do you draw the line between okay and not okay?

I don't get this. There was nothing "wrong" with the painting, it just wasn't their (or my) style; why *not* give it away? It's not like the cost of a pre-primed canvas is prohibitive.

I did that to an ugly lily pad reproduction (made to look like an original--) that my ex-boyfriend's mom gave me. I used two coats of chalkboard paint, added picture hanging wire, wrote "H<3ME" (with a heart for the O) on it, and hung it up. I love my ex's mom, but unfortunately we have different aesthetics. I do agree with DodieGoldney, though. If it's the original, leave it alone and give it back or donate it. I'm an amateur artist and would be furious if someone ruined my original work!

I agree with everyone who posted. I did like the lemons; not my style, but I perfer it over the black dot. Again, as someone stated, it's personal perference. But I do think I would feel a tug at my heart if I was an artist and someone did that to one of my pieces.
I make jewlery and I remember someone pulling apart a piece I gave them to sell at a garage sale. I was heartbroken. I would have perferred if she had given it back.

Unless you are positive it was just a study or unfinished piece, I would say no. I bought a painting at a yard sale for $5 that I was pretty sure was a Diebenkorn, and it turned out I was right. His work can look a bit amateur if you aren't familiar with it. So, just saying, what's ugly to you could be quite valuable. Better to pass it along than deface it.

Well, I think that if you did paint over a picture you'd be in good company: According to anecdote, Robert Rauschenberg painted over one of his paintings that was hanging in a friend / client's home -- he changed it from a plain white painted canvas to a black painted canvas! Ok, he had painted the original and he made the change -- but without the owner's permission -- I wonder how far one might go in the name of pushing the envelope...

Sure, why not? Especially if it's just a generic, icky piece that you don't like.

I've never found myself in possession of art I couldn't stand, in fact I really didn't know this was a problem for people. Where are people getting this crap? Who are these people giving art to people as gifts (who obviously hate it)?? Thank god the worst gifts I get from my family are awful patterned aprons and ugly dishes that can be neatly tucked away.

I'm an artist, if someone painted over a piece of mine it wouldn't bother me (unless maybe it was important to me and I gave it as a gift). Once it's not in your possession anymore, it could be anywhere. Nothing to fret over. Not everyone is going to like what you do, fact of life, get over it and move on.

I do it all the time. I get well framed pieces for nothing at Good Will or yard sales and repaint over them.

As an art lover and collector, I can't believe what I am reading!! Painting over prints or mass produced items is one thing, but someone's art? Why do you have it in the first place if you hate it? Bring it to the thrift store. Or put it on freecycle. One of my favorite paintings is one I found for $2 at a thrift store. I have another one, that I got for $3 that I only like a part of it, but I can't bring myself to cut it up, so I'm covering the part I don't like with the framing. Someday, someone else might like the parts I didn't like.

This post sounds like the folks who painted the fig leaves on Michelangelo's "Last Judgement" because they didn't like the nudity! Can you imagine if people painted over Picassos, Van Goghs etc.? I mean a lot of people hated those when they were first painted and worthless!

Sorry, as you can tell, I'm a bit passionate about art and the destruction of it makes me a bit crazy.

Oh. I thought the black dot was going to be the "before" art. That said, I've seen some entertaining altered paintings done over top of thrift store "art". I wouldn't do it to a good painting that you just don't happen to like but would have no hesitation doing it to junky pieces.

I forgot to add that the painting I have is not really an original painting... I think it came from Target or Home Goods. It's the size that prevents me from giving it away or donating it - I really like the size of it, and while stretched canvas isn't expensive, it's still more expensive than painting over a mass produced piece of work that was given to us, free of charge.

There is an artist in Portland OR I believe that paints over old landscape paintings, but he doesn't obscure the landscape. Instead he paints monsters into the existing landscape. I think they are a lot of fun and someday will own one.

@DMSTUDIO - There are a few artists who do that, all over the world. Here's a post with a few sources: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/adding-monsters-to-landscape-paintings-169615

love what you did so much better!!! looks fabulous!

Can someone explain to me whats the difference between a (original) painting by a amateur painter and a piece of funiture? Many are arguing that you can change funiture but not (original) paintings. Often the word "art" or "artwork" is used, but seriously, just because something is an orignal painting doesn't mean its art! And although it is nice to think that so many of the commenters are artists, I seriously doubt that. Its nice that you like painting for your hobby, but that doesn't mean that it is art! And I can understand that you would be sad if you knew someone painted over one of your paintings, but I am sure that a amateur carpenter would be just as sad seeing his funiture being destroyed because someone didn't like it. And a amateur seamstress probably wouldn't like it either if her lovingly made dress would be turned into something else. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't be allowed to do those things.
PS: he specifically bought the paiting in a shop because it was cheaper than a new canvas. So since nobody seemed to think it was worth more than a new canvas I kind of doubt that it will be missed a lot.
PPS: I actually don't like the after, but that doesn't change a thing.

I would do it in a heartbeat. And I would not spend any time fretting if the original artist was peeved about my new swirls of paint. They need a new profession/hobby if changing a piece of artwork that I now own gets their undies in a bunch.

If a piece of original 'art' is drifting around in a thrift shop or an attic, the artist might want to ask themselves how good it was in the first place.

Honestly, if I own a piece of art I hate in a frame I like, I'm painting over it. I don't feel morally compelled to give it to a thrift shop so that some hipster can buy it for a few bucks and stick it in their mismatched-thrifted-art gallery.

That said, I'd try and do better than a big black circle.

I can imagine all the people saying "oh, I don't care if it's an original, let's paint it over, it's like furniture" being the same Philistines who didn't care for Impressionism or Cubism when it came out, and whack! goes an original Manet! Woosh! goes the Picasso! It's cool to go down in history as a vandal who didn't care for art.
If you don't like your original piece of art, sell it, give it away, store it in, because, you know, you might very well destroy something of value to everybody's cultural history, but also something of actual monetary value. Reminds me of all those beautiful lost pieces of Ancient Greek statuary that the Byzantines reduced into lime, because they were made by pagans.
And if you really, really hate it and thinks it's just some provincial or regional artist nobody cares about, well, sell it on eBay. You'd be surprised.

Most thrift store art is Sunday-painter crap, but a surprising number of important paintings have, at one time in their lives, been out of fashion and ended up in thrift shops. The American wing at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts is full of paintings that buyers discarded because they only wanted the frames they came in. Even Old Masters have turned up at junk shops.

At a certain quality level, an artwork doesn't belong to you just because you bought it. It's part of the patrimony. It's about more than just your own taste or what matches your sofa.

I am an artist, I run an art gallery, and I have a respectable eye for valuation at the lower tier of the market. I respect art and art practices very much. I hesitate to encourage people to gleefully paint away, but I think the veneration for everything an artist produces is just plain dumb. We artists make crap all the time. It isn't because art has no value, and it isn't because there are so many bad artists out in the world. Though there are a lot of bad artists among us. It is just part of the process. Is something valuable lost ever? Sure. Do I cry about that sort of loss? No. The destruction of art is a part of the deal, and part of the respect for it. We artists value the edit.(ok, not all of us, but it is extremely important in professional realms to edit) If you feel the work may be of value, important to an art community, important to someone;'s history, it is clear enough that that is not the canvas you choose to paint over. Putting a valuable work of art in a thrift store is more disrespectful than destroying it. There is a clear valuation that goes along with that gesture, and the gesture is made public. If something is a little bit old and in a quality frame, check it out. If you have that lingering notion that it isn't your thing, but it looks like real art--try to find a place it could belong. But please quit the pretension that the world owes respect to everything artists produce. That's just crazy.

And for the record--a quality canvas on good stretchers is indeed cost prohibitive. But if a painting is on good stretchers--maybe, just maybe, the artist who made it is worthy of some attention. As with most things, better artists tend to use better tools--so if the stretcher is not one of those crappy Blick pre-fab flimsy jobs, that is a clue.

Then there is the matter of your less than masterful circle job--it is unlikely that it will actually make a painting that deserves territory on your wall unless you love irony. Paint because you want to paint. Paint on found materials because it is more affordable, it loosens you up so you don't feel uptight about the outcome, or because you want the remnants of the original work to become a part of the outcome (as withthe landscapes with monsters added). And then look at it, learn, and do what a respectable artist would do--move on and away from your crappy circle blob painting. Why would anyone want to look at either the crappy before or the crappy after everyday?

I've always been a fan of low-brow art, where the artist buys some ugly scenic painting from a thrift store, but then adds unexpected elements to the scene like monsters or zombies.

At one time I worked as an art museum assistant curator. I have a bachelor's degree in art. I taught high school art. I make art, myself.

I would paint over my OWN art. I would paint over something I was positive was (ugly) student art. But I kind of like and hang some of that borderline art that isn't quite amateur and not quite collector grade professional... I wouldn't mess that up.

I do find the hostility against people who think some measure of respect is deserved toward original work (regardless of whether it might turn out to be New York auction house valuable) kind of shocking. But it's probably coming from the people here who think "anyone" can make art, and that anything you feel like hanging on the wall qualifies... Whereas those who seem to be supporting the idea of at least CONSIDERING the value of art before destroying it seem to have some education and maybe even experience making it.

People do thrift Real Art -- they inherit it, they buy a storage locker and assume it's a commercial print, they don't like abstract expressionism and think therefore it must be worthless -- there are lots of reasons somebody gets rid of a piece of art that has actual value, by accident. Those here who adore MCM furniture should see the parallels.

Weird, first try didn't post. I do reclaim canvases, it's one of my favorite bargain/reuse tricks, you can easily find canvases for next to nothing at garage sales and thrift shops. My very favorite was reclaiming a canvas from a family photograph (had been mounted onto canvas), because it was no longer a positive image (half the people had gone so far off the rails into what I call "estate greed" that the family imploded), and reclaiming that canvas - turning it into a positive beautiful image again - was truly one of the most liberating experiences. They already had their copy of the portrait, so this one was just for me, and there's no use keeping painful images around. I say repaint/reclaim!

The dot-maker is an artist, too, and their medium is other paintings, why not?

To everyone saying its disrespectful to paint over others' work - if you actually read the article fully, its a mass produced print, not an original.

Sure I'd paint over it if it wasn't anything I cared for and knew it didn't have much of any value (probably 98% of the time). If it was from someone I knew, no or I'd at least try not to get anything from them that I didn't personally like or request.

One woman I know churns out several paintings a day; mostly abstract, mostly not all that memorable. Does she sell some? Yes, but it doesn't mean hers or any artists work is sacred and in any case, if you own it, it's yours to do whatever you want.

The lemons; not my cup of tea; the round splotch, not my cup of anything. But I like the canvas size.

seems to me that if I bought it off you, it isn't your art anymore, it's mine. and that means I can do what I like. the artist is free to feel however they wish about it.

and let's just be honest here: yes, maybe some cheap, not-very-good painting I bought will turn out to be an early work of someone who later stops sucking and makes really great amazing art. but that is really unlikely. very very few artists get so famous and awesome that they become part of our cultural history. sometimes even dying isn't enough to make every want and value your work. let's have a little more perspective about what's actually more probable in the life of the vast majority of artists and their works.

1. Sure, why not? You should have something you like on the walls of your house.

2. I doubt a painting exists that is "so unappealing that you couldn't give it away if you tried." There is always someone who will like a given piece of art. In fact, I kind of like the lemon painting myself! And I think the big black dot is ugly.

Oh, and if you read the original blog post you will find the canvas used was in fact a mass-produced "painting" not a piece of original art.

I'm not sure if I would paint over an original, but I would definitely paint over a print. I once read a blog post where the blogger had bought a large painting at a thrift store, primed it and let her kids paint over it (with a few colours she had selected). It looked great and was a nice personal touch to their home.

Over my own paintings? Sure. I have a lot that fail my morning after test (I paint live at concerts).
Especially if the canvas was pricey.
Over some canvas I found and don't resonate with? Yes, I have taken home some really ugly paintings for the canvas.
Most people cannibalize frames, so I'm doing something common.

Over another artist, known to me? Not likely. I'd rehome those works.

My ex painted me out of a Scramble Campbell portrait at the time of the split.
Scramble couldn't believe it.

But, I gave away all works with the ex in them, so at least he will continue to enjoy the portrait.

.... there are few things as "liberating" as taking a brush and paint over something you hate (in my case, a try out my mother did for a texture, that she later painted in 4 diferent backgrouds and then decided it had too much texture for her..... it sat in a corner for 3 years a canvas painted black....i did ask permision)

if it was a hand made piece that i did not hate, but did not particulary liked..... i would look for a new owner first.

@PI - Thank you for that awesome link where most the commenters aren't pretentious and don't think that if you paint over a thrift store find that you are ruining a painting by an amateur artist who has a 0000000.1% chance of being famous someday, somewhere...

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/adding-monsters-to-landscape-paintings-169615

I have done it, and I'll do it again, hopefully soon. I like to think of the old painting as being a medium and informing the new one a bit. It's a collaboration.

I would no sooner paint over another's art than I would spank another's child.

Donate it.

I've found (and loved) many original pieces at Goodwill.

I paint over other's paintings all the time. I buy them at op shops (thrift stores) because I like large canvas and it is cheaper, plus the type of painting a do (lots of collage/mixed media) means that the bg coming through or the textures created add to my painting. I had an ex who worked at a uni and each semester students would leave their art there that they didn't want, so he'd load them up and give them to me to paint over.

I like the idea of painting over someone else's art - like how sometimes famous painters paintings have other famous painters paintings underneath when they are being restored!!

I think its cool, like in an old house that has been repainted over and over, to think of the story underneath.

http://whatiknowistrue.wordpress.com/2012/03/03/wrapper/
Here's a more temporary but equally thrifty solution: Cover the frame with a printed fabric you love or a favorite tea towel, stretched over the edges and stapled or even taped to the back. You can always remove it later if you change your mind.

I think the before was ok

Canvases stretched on heavy duty stretcher bars are crazy expensive and I can guarantee that if you bought a painting for quite a bit of money you are not going to paint over it. You'd sell it at the least. I'm sure this article is referring to junk art bought at thrift stores and the like....or those mass produced IKEA canvases.

...yes, at Old Brand New she clearly states she found a mass produced lemon painting. She is not advocating painting over original art work.