Inspirational quotes have always been around, but now we have a way of putting them on canvas to create artwork for your home. DIY canvas quotes are very easy to make and only take a few supplies. Just about anyone can make them and once you try it, you won’t be able to stop. The good thing is, quotes as artwork go well anywhere. Put them in your living room, kitchen, dining room, den, bedroom and even the bathroom. Put them at the office or in your classroom. Use your favorite quotes and they become a great conversation piece for visitors.
Supplies needed for a canvas quote project include:
- Canvas (stretched canvas works best)
- Vinyl letters – to match the size of the canvas and enough to complete the quote you choose
- Acrylic Paint – to paint the canvas
- Acrylic White Paint – to correct any mistakes
- Large sponge brushes or another large brush – to use when painting the canvas
- A small paint brush – for corrections
- A ruler or yard stick
- Pencil
- Narrow Painter’s Tape
If you use a large canvas at about 36 x 48 inches, you might want to use 6-inch tall vinyl letters, but if you are using a smaller canvas, you will want to use letters that will fit and not look too big or too small.
Choose your quote and decide how you want to lay it out on the canvas. You may one one line, two or three lines and maybe more. You might want to try and center it or put it to one side. Whichever way you want to do it, you will use painter’s tape to keep your lines straight. If you draw a pencil line on the canvas, you run the risk of it not being covered by the paint. Measure each side of your canvas to place where your letters will be. You might want to have three lines and your bottom line will be 3 inches from the bottom of the canvas. Measure up 3 inches from the bottom of your canvas on both sides and put a light pencil mark on each side at that measurement. This will be the only time you will use the pencil. Place a line of painter’s tape from mark to mark to make a straight line. Measure up however many inches you want the next line to be and do the same. Continue until you have all the lines underlined with painter’s tape.
Next, stick your quote on the lines. Do not place the letters directly on the painter’s tape. Place them above it so they do not come in contact with the painter’s tape. Press the vinyl letters down well so that no corners are left standing up. You want them to be tight to the canvas so paint cannot slip beneath. Once all your letters are on, pull the painters tape off the canvas being careful not to dislodge any of the letters. Now you are ready to paint.
Paint right over the letters. When you pull them off, the letters will stand out because they will have raw canvas underneath and be white. You can paint the whole canvas a color before placing the letters if you would like the letters to have color, but sometimes the vinyl letters stick and remove the paint. Just be careful. Paint a solid color or gradually get lighter as you reach the top or bottom of the canvas. You can also apply colorful magazine pictures on the canvas with mod podge before starting anything and make a big collage. Then place your vinyl letters on and paint over the whole thing with a single color. Your letters will be colorful with the magazine pictures. Paint a pastel rainbow in strips on your canvas first and then place your letters and paint the canvas a dark color. You letters will come out with light rainbow stripes.
Once the paint has dried on the canvas, or almost dried, carefully peel off the vinyl letters. Use the white paint and a small brush to clean up any drips or sharpen the lines of the letters. You now have a canvas quote that is perfect to hang on a wall.