DIY: Color Block Artwork with Text

Do-it-yourself art projects seem to adorn the walls of every stylish home.  Inspired, I made a simple color-blocked painting – with text for added personality – for my guest half bath. Follow along to see how I made it.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• Large canvas
• Acrylic paint
• Large paintbrush
• Small paintbrush
• Wax paper
• Pencil
• Computer and printer

WHAT YOU DO: 

Step 1: Decide how many blocks of color you would like to paint. I created three wide bands of color. Using tape to block off sections of your canvas, apply paint to your canvas using a large brush (try to brush away from the tape to avoid bleeding):

Step 2: Allow the paint to dry overnight. In the meantime, decide what word you’d like to add to your painting. Print out the word in the font and size you desire. Place a sheet of wax paper over the word and trace, using a pencil.  Make the lines as thick as possible:

Step 3: Flip the wax paper over and trace a mirror image of the word. In other words, follow the tracing you did on the front, on the back. Make sure to put something under the wax paper to protect your table or work surface from transferred graphite:

Step 4: Once the word has been traced in pencil on the reverse side, place the wax paper over your canvas and, once again, trace the letters. The graphite from your previous tracing will deposit onto your canvas, providing a guide for you to trace with paint. Much cheaper than a stencil, and a bit easier than painting a word free-hand, this is just my way of doing this:

Step 5: Using a small paint brush, cover the letters you have traced with paint. Allow to dry overnight and enjoy! For more details, see my original how-to, and more photos of the painting in the half bath.

Have you ever made your own artwork? Tell us about it!