DIY: Painted Verse

I’ve been a (rather adoring) fan of Painted Verses ever since I stumbled upon it a few months ago. It is a year-long project by a girl called Laura Lin. I love looking at the illustrated translations of Bible verses found there; Painted Verses is a constant source of inspiration to me. I always look forward to their new posts!

I can’t draw very well (or paint, for that matter), so I thought of another way of turning one of my favorite verses into a painting, and I thought I’d share it here. This is my version of a painted verse in just ten steps. Enjoy!

You will need:

• a canvas (the one I used is 11.5x15.5 inches)
• acrylic paint (only if you’re starting with a blank canvas)
• spray paint, color of your choice
• sticker paper
• a printer
• a quote/line from your favorite verse/song/poem/book/whatever you like
• an intention to finish what you started (this is the most important!)

Step 1-A.

If you’re starting with a blank canvas, paint it and cover the whole thing. As I would tell my preschool students, “No white spaces, kids!” Let it dry completely before proceeding to Step 2.

Step 1-B.

You can also opt to start this project with a painting of your choice, like I did. This painting you see right here was given to me by a friend many months ago. He said I could do whatever I wanted with it.

If you’re going to start with a pre-made painting, make sure it’s one that you’re not too crazy about, because you’re going to cover up the majority of it anyway. See the next steps that follow.

Step 2.

I feel like this step won’t really be necessary for most of you, but I’ll include it anyway.

Measure how much space you’ll have with your chosen canvas size by laying sheets of paper onto it. The size of my canvas is 11.5x15.5 inches, and it’s almost the same as two A4-sized papers laid on top of each other in landscape orientation. Why is this important? For you to have an easier time estimating the font size of your letters. 

Step 3.

Type out your verse/quote/line(s) of choice and print it out on sticker paper. I would suggest using sans serif fonts, because you’ll have an easier time cutting the letters individually. Of course, if you love a challenge, go ahead and pick one of those elegant, cursive fonts. I won’t judge. ;-)

Next, cut the letters one by one. Even just rough trims will do for now. As you can see in the picture below, I didn’t cut the holes inside the letters yet.

Step 4.

Position the letters where you want them to be on your painting. Try different things with it until you’re satisfied. Once you’re happy, you can now cut the rest of what needs to be cut.

Step 5.

Peel off the backing of the letters you cut and stick them onto your canvas. It’s okay if your letters aren’t precisely aligned; perfection is boring anyway. If you look really closely, some of my letters are skewed, but I think it adds charm to the overall look of the project.

Step 6.

Smooth your fingers over the letters again to make sure they’re adhered to the canvas properly. You don’t want your letters peeling themselves away from the surface later when you spray-paint over them.

Step 7.

This is where the fun really begins! (Especially after that grueling task of having to cut the letters one by one.) You are now ready to spray-paint your canvas. By the way, if you don’t have spray paint on hand, you can always use acrylic paint as an alternative. I just opted for this one because it dries fast.
And because spray-painting is strangely very therapeutic for me, but of course you didn’t have to know that.

Step 8.

Please, spray paint outdoors if you can. Spare your room from the spray mist that will forever leave those tiny, annoying specks of paint in areas where you don’t want them

If using spray paint, I suggest that you spray in multiple thin coats, instead of doing it in one thick go. This prevents ugly drips. Plus, you can control the opacity too! In the photos above, you can see that I went with three even coats. I was tempted to stop with just one thin coat because it looks adorable. (But maybe next time, I’ll try that.)

Step 9.

Read a book, take a bath, pop in a DVD, shave your legs, do whatever you like ― just make sure you allow your canvas to dry completely. And I mean completely. I watched My Week with Marilyn while waiting for my canvas to dry.
But if you’re the type who likes to watch paint dry, hey, I won’t judge. (Again.)

Step 10.

Last step!

Now that it’s completely dry, treat yourself to the pleasure of peeling the letters off, one by one. It’s like watching magic happen before your very eyes!

Peel off slowly and carefully, especially if you used acrylic instead of spray paint. This is to avoid the overall paint being peeled away with the paper.

Finished product:

I hope you had a good time reading this DIY post! I had a really good time making the project, taking pictures, and writing this.