Canvas Lettering / Chicago Calligraphy / Chicago Weddings

SUCH an undertaking doing this piece! Also exciting however and a bit of an adventure. Want to share my steps in order to achieve this look.

The canvas needed to be 36” x 6 yards… This was the first time that I’d ever had to purchase canvas from a roll and the staff was so sweet and helpful.

You really need a lot of room to work so I had to paint sections, let them dry, then roll them up and do the next section. Same thing applied to the lettering portion. You can also purchase pre-gessoed canvas from Amazon…

An IG highlight of me adding gesso to the canvas…

The FINAL. I was shocked when I rolled it out I was so used to working on it in short sections. I didn’t unroll it until I got to the venue the day of the wedding! As far as the lettering of canvas goes the BEST tool to use was a simple black Sharpie brand marker… Who knew? Paint took too long on something this long, my go to, DecoColor brand paint pens were completely absorbed on canvas, so that left the Sharpie that worked like a charm. Nice and opaque and it cures instantly… What more can you ask for?

Thanks for reading this tutorial… I’ll be back soon!

—ct