I found this picture on another blog and thought it was a really neat image. i have always been attracted to type art or typography. This is a cool way to bring a little of the city into your home, no matter where you leave. You will need: a few different sizes of paintbrushes (at least a med/large one and a small one), a container of water, two colors of paint, a surface to paint on and sandpaper.
1. Fine a scrap of something. The cool thing about this project, is you can paint it on canvas, or cardboard, and it can be any size. I found mine in an old frame I got from school. It is a worthless and pretty ugly print, so I thought I could recycle it. Keep your eye out EVERYWHERE for things to paint on. New canvas can be expensive, and if you are not planning on showing it in a gallery (or, sometimes, even if you are) don't worry about your supplies so much.
2. If you finds something with a rough surface, you can skip this step. If like me you found something that was previously painted, has paper on it, or is just smooth, you will have to sand it. Really, and fine to medium sand paper will do. You just want to create a surface that the paint can easily stick to.
3. Next, because this is a distressed look, we will be painting an undercoat. I was my sign to be a traditional black and white, but you can go with any color-scheme. Opposites look great in this project so couples like purple and orange, green and red, and blue and yellow look good. Refer to a color wheel to get some ideas. With your under paint (the one that will show through with distressing as well as the color for the lettering) paint a coat over the whole surface. Since this color will only be seen with our distressing, you do not need an even coat. This can be quick and painless! Now go get some coffee, maybe a snack, and let the paint dry.
4. Now get our your next paint. This layer will be seen, so take a little more time and maybe another coat and paint a fairly even layer of paint over your surface. You don't want to make it too thick though, since you will be trying to get some of it off when it dries, during our distressing step. back to watching paint dry. Step out and get a little fresh air while you wait.
5. The fun part! Distressing is not a difficult technique, so don't let yourself fret over it. The process should be fun and therapeutic. If your mad, try distressing something. ;). There is no set way to do this. Collect some blunt and rough objects and use them to scratch and chip off the layer of paint you just applied. Every project and material will require a different degree of force, but use some common since. If you are using cardboard, don't go at it with a power saw. you want to have something left over when your done! Other then that, have fun!
4. Once you are fully distressed, decide on your words. If it helps, use a scrap piece of paper to give yourself an idea how you want to lay them out. Because this is supposed to be "subway art", the best words would be some famous streets of the city you want to represent. I think New York would be a good theme for my black and white color pallet. Your type should be all different sizes, and even fonts. Use a type program like Word to get ideas. One you have what you want, use a pencil and write it out on your board. Use the computer fonts as reference if you need to! To help keep yourself straight, use a ruler to create line to write on.
5. Now it is time for your steady hand. REMEMBER, even though paint it a little more permeant then the pencil, you can always paint over mistakes. Don't let this stress you into quitting. You are just following the lines you just created. If a white line is too wobbly for you, use some black paint on the side to straighten it out. When the white letters are fry, get some of that frustration from painting them out by giving them a little distress. Keep it less then the background though.
7. Alright! Your done! You can either frame it or, if the surface you used is thick enough, you can attach a frame hanger to the back and hang it up as it is. Enjoy!!
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