DIY Acrylic Painted Name Signs for Gift Giving

I live life pretty simple. I have always had the belief that we should get away from the retail stores for our gift giving. I create gifts every year for my family and friends. This year it was canvas painting. I chose some pieces of canvas and painted them for family, friends, nieces and nephews and my lovely granddaughter. It was really my first creative effort painting on canvas.

What I learned was that canvas was really no different than anything else I painted but just took a little more patience and time to complete.

I choose a theme each Christmas so it was not very difficult for me to choose this. I do still buy gifts but they are little and insignificant and they will enjoy these special name signs long after I am gone.

I always try to create something memorable and I am happy I did these awesome signs

Step 1: Preparation

Canvas seems to be a little dry, so first thing I do before I do any painting is spray the surface with a spray bottle with water. What this does is makes the canvas workable and you won't get the thick acrylic paint globbing up on you. For the first step you really want the canvas wet.

You want to create a background of colors so whatever colors you want to use just go for it. You don't even have to use a brush. You can use some paper towels and smear the paint around, or you can brush it on. If you want to get wild and crazy you can even finger paint.

What your really trying to accomplish is just a background you can use as a base and go from there. You may or may not see the background it just goes with whatever you put on top of it. It's just a background to begin the process of creation.

Step 2: The Base Colors.

Think of acrylic painting as layers of color. There may be many different layers or there may only be a few, or there may be only one. It's important that you start with the dark colors first and then ad lighter colors on top. Darker colors should always be used as a base for shadows etc.

As you can see in the above picture There are a few different layers here generally unless you are making patterns with a lighter shade of color start with the dark color first and then once it is dry use lighter shades to get the desired effect you want to achieve.

Canvas is really forgiving so if you mess up on one section you can always start over or correct the problem.

Step 3: Fine Details

getting into the nitty gritty of fine detail work means outlining names putting black where it needs to be etc.

Just take your time and really work on it. take breaks in between and don't rush it. When doing names you can use a big art brush for wider strokes and bold lines. Or use a thin brush for minute details.

you can do almost anything with acrylic paints and it is much more forgiving than oil based paints.

Have fun, be creative and whoever you give the gift to will have it for a lifetime

As always with my DIY if you don't want to make a name sign for someone you can always order an original from me by contacting me today