You’ll fall in love with a fun technique that helps you create unusual and endearing artwork for any room in your home. Whether you need a large wall hanging for an area over the sofa, or you just want a small one – in a frame – on your bedroom wall, you’ll find it fun and easy to paint with shoe polish. Hurry over to a nearby craft store, grab a canvas in a suitable size, and let the fun begin!
You can purchase a canvas, and frame it yourself, or purchase one that’s already framed. After you get the canvas home you can begin creating the artwork that you want. Paint the canvas with gesso or ordinary house paint. Paint the canvas white or any other color you want. However, keep in mind the limited number of colors in which you can find shoe polish.
There are so many choices for the words you write on the canvas. Write an excerpt from your favorite book, a portion of or a whole poem, lines from a nursery rhyme, or just something you’ve written yourself. Simply use bottled shoe polish – with accompanying applicator – or shoe polish in a tin – with a soft cloth as the applicator. Use it to write the words, not worrying about making every letter the same size, not fretting over spacing and other concerns. The more relaxed the writing is the more endearing the finished artwork will be. It can be helpful, though, to measure down one side, and make tiny pencil marks, to give you some direction when figuring out how many lines you can get on the canvas.
The exact art piece you make is up to you. You can do nothing but write large lettering all over the entire canvas or you can create something slightly different. Section off an area on the canvas and write only in that area. Then, use a different color of shoe polish to create accents for the artwork. With stencils – or freehand – you can make flowers, leaves, vines, or other accents, on the corners, or as a border around the wording.
Frame a plain canvas by just putting it in a picture frame. Or, frame a large canvas by making a wooden frame and stretching the canvas over it. Or, just make it easy on yourself and buy a canvas that’s already framed. Whichever you use you’ll think the finished artwork is perfect for a living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, or any other room in the house.