Behind the Scenes | Canvas
Read about what goes into producing one of our hand-painted personalised name canvases and some of the trade secrets from our resident artist and co-founder, Adam; from how he prepares each canvas to the final piece...
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A blank canvas. Literally. Where do you start? Well I go all left field and start on the back. The more rigid the canvas, the better the surface to work on and as far as the end result goes, I want the painting on as flat a surface as possible. No sagging required! So back to the back. Take one mug of water, a clean brush and apply the water to the back of the canvas. Don’t drown it, you aren’t putting out a fire; some delicate strokes will do it. Leave to dry and boom, any sags or dents in that canvas are now ironed out and it’s crisp and ready for action.
I always brush a first thin base layer of paint on the canvas. Although the canvas I use comes ready primed, I feel another layer of water based paint won’t hurt. I use a slightly watered down white emulsion. Once dried I apply another coat of white emulsion, this time not watered down. This will form the base layer for the letters.
I sketch in the letters using a light pencil, such as a 2H - I don’t want to make it harder for myself having to go over dark pencil lines later on in the process!
![Wall Inclusive | Hand-painted Personalised Name Canvas | Bubble Turquoise Canvas](//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0149/2451/3366/files/Wall_Inclusive_BubbleTurquoiseCanvas_SketchFill_Cropped_large.jpg?v=1563625303)
Then two coats of the letter ‘fill in’ colour is applied, plus any spray lines. The background colour goes around this and if I need to spray any lines onto the background, I will mask off the fill in colour to avoid any over spray.
![Wall Inclusive | Hand-painted Personalised Name Canvas | Orange Turquoise Canvas](//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0149/2451/3366/files/Wall_Inclusive_BubbleOrangeCanvas_Fill_large.jpg?v=1563626302)
The outline of the letters is when the letter forms really start to take shape. I use Posca pens for this. They are great: water based, quick drying, permanent once dry and importantly, vivid. Then it’s the 3D and highlights to give the name that bit of impact.
![Wall Inclusive | Hand-painted Personalised Name Canvas | Bubble Turquoise Canvas](//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0149/2451/3366/files/Wall_Inclusive_BubbleTurquoiseCanvas_FillFadeOutline_large.jpg?v=1563625147)
The canvas is now complete and ready for its new home!
![Wall Inclusive | Hand-painted Personalised Name Canvas | Bubble Turquoise Canvas](//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0149/2451/3366/files/Wall_Inclusive_PersonalisedBubbleTurquoiseNameCanvas_BLOG_1024x1024.jpg?v=1563794356)
Browse and shop our range of hand-painted personalised name canvases here.
I always brush a first thin base layer of paint on the canvas. Although the canvas I use comes ready primed, I feel another layer of water based paint won’t hurt. I use a slightly watered down white emulsion. Once dried I apply another coat of white emulsion, this time not watered down. This will form the base layer for the letters.
I sketch in the letters using a light pencil, such as a 2H - I don’t want to make it harder for myself having to go over dark pencil lines later on in the process!
![Wall Inclusive | Hand-painted Personalised Name Canvas | Bubble Turquoise Canvas](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0149/2451/3366/files/Wall_Inclusive_Canvas_Sketch_large.jpg?v=1563624109)
![Wall Inclusive | Hand-painted Personalised Name Canvas | Bubble Turquoise Canvas](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0149/2451/3366/files/Wall_Inclusive_BubbleTurquoiseCanvas_SketchFill_Cropped_large.jpg?v=1563625303)
Then two coats of the letter ‘fill in’ colour is applied, plus any spray lines. The background colour goes around this and if I need to spray any lines onto the background, I will mask off the fill in colour to avoid any over spray.
![Wall Inclusive | Hand-painted Personalised Name Canvas | Orange Turquoise Canvas](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0149/2451/3366/files/Wall_Inclusive_BubbleOrangeCanvas_SketchFill_large.jpg?v=1563626217)
![Wall Inclusive | Hand-painted Personalised Name Canvas | Orange Turquoise Canvas](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0149/2451/3366/files/Wall_Inclusive_BubbleOrangeCanvas_Fill_large.jpg?v=1563626302)
The outline of the letters is when the letter forms really start to take shape. I use Posca pens for this. They are great: water based, quick drying, permanent once dry and importantly, vivid. Then it’s the 3D and highlights to give the name that bit of impact.
![Wall Inclusive | Hand-painted Personalised Name Canvas | Bubble Turquoise Canvas](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0149/2451/3366/files/Wall_Inclusive_BubbleTurquoiseCanvas_FillFade_Cropped_large.jpg?v=1563625567)
![Wall Inclusive | Hand-painted Personalised Name Canvas | Bubble Turquoise Canvas](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0149/2451/3366/files/Wall_Inclusive_BubbleTurquoiseCanvas_FillFadeOutline_large.jpg?v=1563625147)
The canvas is now complete and ready for its new home!
![Wall Inclusive | Hand-painted Personalised Name Canvas | Bubble Turquoise Canvas](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0149/2451/3366/files/Wall_Inclusive_PersonalisedBubbleTurquoiseNameCanvas_BLOG_1024x1024.jpg?v=1563794356)
Browse and shop our range of hand-painted personalised name canvases here.