Thursday, June 20, 2013

[make] Calligraphy Canvas Art

Well, I didn't have that many guesses as to what hymn I used for my version of calligraphy art, but here is what I did!


Did anyone internally guess "It Is Well With My Soul"? I just love that hymn. The story behind it, the power with the words. I thought it would be a fabulous reminder to have around the house.

I started with a blank canvas that I had originally painted something else on about three years ago, but I painted over it with gray and then distressed it some with a scrap of burlap fabric. I used a white art marker for the writing: I'm not sure where it's from because I inherited it from my aunt along with a b-u-n-c-h of other craft supplies. I'm sure you can find one at Hobby Lobby or Michael's.

I used a scratch piece of paper to make sure I knew all of the words in the right order, and then I sketched out how I wanted the calligraphy letters to look on each line. Of course, by the time I got to the bottom on the actual canvas, I ran out of room... but that's okay!

I used my white marker on the canvas and wrote slowly in cursive, adding little flairs here and there throughout the wording. 

This is how Emily's calligraphy trick works: the first picture is the original, and the second picture is the calligraphy trick. She adds a thicker line to all of her downward strokes. As in, when I write a "t", my marker starts at the top and goes down. As soon as the marker begins to go up for the letter "h", my thick line stops until my marker starts to go down again. I hope that makes sense, but if not you can always click the link above to see her explanation!


Ta-da! Isn't it gorgeous? I like how it looks like chalkboard since I used gray paint and a white pen. A happy accident since I was not intending to that originally! 

I hung it in our living room below our engagement canvas that people signed at our wedding [our photographer's idea: we took a photo in downtown Dallas, Deep Ellum, in front of a brick wall, and it now looks like graffiti with all of the signatures! Super cute idea!]. 

Who else is a fan of calligraphy? I am thinking about doing a large canvas piece next, but that makes me so nervous! It was fun though, very therapeutic to focus on the strokes and alignment of the words... Does that make me a nerd or what?

[P.S. Who is stuck watching Game 7 with their hubs? #iam #gospurs #onlybecausetheyarefromtexas #reallygomavs #cantstandspursorheat]

[P.P.S. I have 201 followers: you all followed through, yeaaa!!! Thanks!!!

Happy Thursday!

"Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations." Matthew 12:18

6 comments :

  1. That turned out so cute! I love your calligraphy tips. I've wanted to take a class, but don't know anyone around here who offers them.

    PS-I'm typing this sitting beside my hubby on the couch who's watching game 7, while I could care less! : )

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  2. That's totally awesome! Pinning to my DIY board to remember to do for the little one's nursery. :)

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  3. Look at you! Did you really sketch that all by yourself?? Impressive. It turned out way cute

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  4. your writing is beautiful! I love it!!

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  5. Well done, Chrissy! I just might have to create something like this for my home, too!

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  6. Just found you via pinterest and have to save, I love this...it is my favorite hymn. you did a great job!

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