DIY Quote on Canvas Wall Art

It has literally been over two years since I posted about this piece of art as seen in Molly Sims apartment in InStyle mag:

I mentioned that I would like to DIY it, and well, I finally gave it a go! Better late than never.

The supplies:

All of these items can be purchased at art/craft supply stores.

A 22x28" gallery canvas. I chose this size based on the area of wall I was going to be hanging the piece.

Acrylic paints to color the base and sides of the canvas.

A foam brush 

ZIG brand "Painty" pens

2" alphabet stencils (The photo shows 3"-but they ended up being too big, so I had to go get smaller ones)

I highly recommend using these pens for the stencil portion of the project.  The application was much more accurate and went on smoother than paint would have.  They also dry fast.

First I painted the canvas with the foam brush.  I ended up using cream as a base, and then put a light coat of gray on top, leaving some of the cream showing through in some areas. 

Once dry, line up your stencils to see how your quote will fit on the canvas.  I played with it all a bit until I got the layout I wanted, and then lightly penciled in the outline of the letters.  I didn't use a ruler for straight lines, because I wanted it to look a little more free form.

Next, go back with your stencils, letter by letter, and fill them in with the Painty Pens.  When dry, erase any pencil marks that show.

Then you are done!  Pretty simple, but a bit time consuming, so I wouldn't choose a very long quote if I were you.  I ended up using this quote, which I posted last year as part of my Think Bright Thoughts series.

I used silver for most of the quote, then chose to highlight certain words by using gold.

Here it is on the wall, next to the black and white canvas prints of my girls I ordered.  Something else I have been wanting to do for a long time!  This camera didn't pick up the silver print from this angle, but you can still read in real life.

 {Yes, I have leopard on leopard.  Or is it jaguar and leopard?}

So what do you think? Is this something you would try or have tried? What quote would you use?