I want to do a painting in acrylics, with some wording, on gessoed canvas. How can I mask the letters?

Question

I have used carefully cut contact paper or frisket to mask on smoother surfaces. This project will include a lot of lettering so I am trying to figure out a good way to do it. I've considered liquid frisket or rubber cement, but have never used either of those products and I wonder if they could be removed from the gessoed canvas. I want to mask the letters, paint the picture, then unmask the letters and paint a simple outline around the letters.

Answer 1

Since you are working with acrylics...I would go with some liquid frisket...it would be the easiest and most controllable for sure. One of the best I have used is called Incredible White Mask..you can get a pen nib for it as well that makes it very easy to control. Try either Danielsmith.com or maybe Jerrysartarama.com....they might carry it.

Answer 2

Why don't you think about simply painting the painting you want first, then adding the lettering where you want on the painted canvas? In other words, why bother trying to paint around the lettering? It's too much aggravation. And it's so much easier to add the lettering over the paint.

I've used lettering on a dozen or so of my paintings and I've applied two different technics that both seemed to work for me.

The first way was to simply sketch out the outline of the words, make them look as printed out as possible, then I hand painted in the lettering. I've done this on the more figurative, somewhat surreal paintings.

On the more abstract paintings I used a stencil over the already painted area. You can use a pencil around each letter on the stencil using the stencil to outline the letter. Then you can paint into the outline any combination of colors you wish.

Or you can keep the stencil on the canvas and simply paint in each letter, using the stencil as a way to prevent any paint 'spillage' from getting on the rest on the canvas.

Here is a sample of painted words with the help of the stencil:

http://pics.livejournal.com/unmired/pic/0003t0sp/g16

Here is a sample of hand-painted in words:

http://pics.livejournal.com/unmired/pic/000315tw/g11

I hope I've been able to help. However, if you still want to mask in the lettering then the first step still applies. Finish the painting first. Then it's safe to place and use regular masking tape on the canvas (as long as you don't press the masking to hard into the canvas). You could also stretch out and apply the masking tape, as a solid sheet, to a non-sticking surface first (like glass or plexiglass) and pre-cut the letters to your liking. Then remove the excess and use the masking tape sheet as your own version of a hand-made stencil.

Answer 3

There are many,many ways to make letters on your canvas.

The best thing to do is go to amazon.com and find a book on collages that emphasize acrylics.

In the meantime here a few ways.
1) if u only need a few letters, you can cut them out after printing them and use the acrylic as a glue. just use a clear acrylic medium and goop it on the back and front (some inks may spread) then put it on the canvas and smooth it over. you can paint over it afterwards. you can glue stuff from mags, etc. too
2) buy stencils
3) you can buy simple art projector, you place your words on it and project it onto the canvas then trace the outline. I think there is a model that goes by the Prism name, but not sure. They're not that cheap.
4) I used to use an overhead projector. I bought transparent paper and printed on that, then projected and traced. You need to make sure your printer can use transparent paper first.

But the best idea is to spend 10 bucks on a good book.

Answer 4

Unless you think you are creating masterpieces in acrylic, buy and use them. There are different grades of pre-primed stretched canvas. They save a lot of time.