DIY Subway Art

Hi there everyone! What have you been up to this past week?

It's been super hot and humid here, so painting outdoors has been a challenge. It's not only challenging because I feel like I've run a marathon just walking to the mailbox, but when you paint and it's humid, it takes forever to dry.

But canvases keep going on sale at AC Moore, so I keep buying canvases. And then I need to make things with them.

Here's an idea for "subway art", using canvas and chip board letters. It may not be the traditional way to make subway art, but it came out pretty good.

I made this for my step-daughter and her husband for their wedding, using the lyrics from their first dance.

First I started with a large canvas. (I primed it with a quick coat of primer and let that dry.)

 

Next, because I was going to spray paint the canvas black, I had to move outside to paint the canvas, despite the humidity. First thing I did was set up my very tote-able saw horses. That went fine, until I was carrying out the plywood to use as the table-top, and dropped the 4x4' piece of plywood on my foot! 

 

 

After I could stop swearing catch my breath, I started painting. Four thin coats of paint took several days to dry completely, because of the humidity. Finally I was ready to play around with the spacing of the letters. I used blue painters tape to measure and space out the canvas.

 

I wrote down the song verse I wanted, just to get an idea which words would go on which line.

 

For the lyrics, I used chipboard letters, called Thickers. They have sticky backs, but you'll need to used glue so that they stay in place. (Note, always buy extra packs of Thickers because you will inevitably run out of one letter, and have to buy more.)

And then I spaced.

 

And spaced.

 

And spaced some more.

 

*This spacing business is harder than it looks - I tried to eyeball it and put the letters between the painters tape. I have no idea why I did this. After I came out of my air headed/elder hour, I realize I should put the letters right on the tape to make sure it was even.

Why do I admit this stuff?

Because. I. Can. Not. Lie.

 

I thought it lacked something.

So Big A came up with the idea of adding their name and date of the wedding.

 

 

I then covered their name and date, and then painted the song verse letters black. That helped their name and wedding date would stand out.

A final coat of poly just to seal it, and here's how it came out.

 

I wish I had a better picture, but at that point, time was of the essence and I had to wrap this up. Literally and figuratively.

 

So what have you been up to? Have you made any subway art? Most importantly, do you have blonde/senior moments like me?