diy typography/subway art

My niece Ashley got married last year and the two lovebirds just bought the sweetest little house. They are both crazy about typography/subway art so I decided to make her a custom sign commemorating their big day. It turned out so well I thought you might like to see how I did it.

The first thing I did was to design the layout. I used a 9" x 12" gallery wrapped canvas so I designed the layout on a regular letter size paper. I used a serif (footed) font and adjusted the font size and kerning (spacing between letters) so that each word spanned from the left to the right edge of the paper. If you want to get fancy, you can add vertical words. I wanted to keep it pretty simple.

I used a black canvas but you could always prep a plain white canvas by painting it black first. Black gesso would work great...and would simulate chalkboard nicely. You could also make this on a painted wood panel.

Saral Transfer Paper in white is excellent for transferring the letters. You simply sandwich the transfer paper between the printout and the canvas. Make sure the transfer side is against the canvas or the transfer will be made on the reverse side of the printout...oops! Be sure to center the printout. Tape into place to secure it while you trace the letters.

White will be transferred to the background but I think that adds to the chalkboard effect. It's okay if you miss parts of the transfer. See how I missed part of the "Y"? There is enough there for me to fill in with the next step.

Using a white oil pencil (or you could use a white colored pencil or white chalk pencil), fill in the letters. 

Use a fixative spray to protect the piece. This is especially important if you used colored pencil or chalk.

This same process can be used to create art with special quotes and personalized messages.