"You Are My Vision" Stenciled Canvas

My newest project was inspired by this screen printed sign I found on Pinterest.

<http://www.etsy.com/listing/116578468/you-are-my-sunshine-17-x-195?ref=shop_home_active>

As soon as I saw the text "You are my Sunshine," I knew I wanted to change it to reference my favorite song by Rend Collective Experiment, "You Are My Vision." I set out to make two of these (one for a friend and one for myself) on canvases. I knew I wanted more than one color, and a bit more of a distressed look than the original.

I wanted to replicate the fonts of my inspiration, and also use stencils to make the letters. I found the cursive font (Marcelle Script) and downloaded a free version of it online. For the other font I used one that was similar to the original and already on my computer (Century Gothic).

I printed the letters off onto sticker paper and then cut them out with an X-Acto knife (a crafter's best friend, I must say!). This was probably the most tedious and time-consuming part of the entire project (determining the size of the letters in relation to the canvas and then cutting them out).

Then came the fun part...painting! I began by painting my canvases with a variety of mismatched and dark colors.

I painted back over each of the canvases with two layers of white after doing this.

Why? you ask? Because I wanted to give the script depth and texture instead of just leaving it white.

After letting the canvases dry, I arranged the letters on the first canvas. I also purposefully let the "You" hang over the edge on each side

Next I painted a layer of pink and orange horizontally right over the stencils. After doing this, I took the whole thing outside and splattered the canvas with bright colored paint.

Finally, after allowing plenty of drying time, I very carefully peeled the letters off and transferred them directly to my next canvas. I had to be extremely careful not to tear the stencils, since I planned on using them a second time.

For the second canvas I had a little bit of trouble keeping the stickers on tight. Paint seeped in through several spots, and I had to go back and touch up some of the letters with white paint. The final result ended up being about the same, it was just a bit more work to get there!

I was extremely pleased with both of my final canvases. I gave them both a final coat of varnish (to make them shine) and was quick to hang mine!