DIY: gold chevron paintings

jesslcchevronproject

Ohmygoodness. I am so excited to share this project! I have had this idea floating in my head for months and now I get to share the results. The concept of painted chevron first came to mind after reading Kelly + Olive’s post about DIY Chevron. I followed their instructions and used the pattern linked to their post.

Here is how it works.

Materials Used:

  • 3 22×28″ stretched canvases (each one cost about $22)
  • Bronze gold acrylic paint ($10)
  • Large, soft bristled brush ($10)
  • 1 roll blue painters tape ($4)
  • Chevron pattern stencil found on Sunset.com via Kelly and Olive (free)

chevronstencils

First, I printed out the stencil three times to get the right length for my canvases. I carefully trimmed the paper to include just the zig-zag and then taped them together to get the correct width.

oldcanvases

Do these canvases look familiar? I decided I can always recreate the string art look on new canvases, and in the meantime save some $$ by reusing the two I already had.

thumbtack

To transfer the zig-zag pattern from the paper stencil to the canvas, I used a thumb tack to mark each of the points on the zig zags. I did this for both stripes on the stencil and then used blue painters tape to fill in where the white zig-zag was on the stencil. The thumb tack prints helped me know where to start and stop the tape.

preptape

I found lining up a whole bunch of tape makes the process quicker.

prepaint

Once canvas was complete with the zig-zag, I taped the sides as well to keep them white. I also used a credit card to smooth down all the lines and make sure there wouldn’t be any paint leaking into the stripe pattern.

A few people have mentioned they have had trouble with the paint not seeping into the tape. As I mentioned, I used a credit card to smooth down the lines pretty well before painting. Also, my paint was pretty thick, not runny, so it didn’t seep through very much. Of course there is a bit of bleed on mine, but not too noticeable from far away. I hope you find a method that works for you!

paint

After that, I just needed to paint the canvases with a solid coat of paint. It didn’t take nearly as much paint as I thought it would. I got all three canvases painted with one tube of paint, and I still have paint left over. The canvases needed about 20 minutes to dry and then I removed the painters tape.

I love how the metallic bronze paint shines against the solid white stripe.

jesslcchevronproject

Voila! The finished product. Courtney and Lauren came over and helped me hang the art – with thumb tacks! Who knew.

This Post Has 0 Comments

  4. Eva 18 Nov 2009

    It looks so good! Great job! Can’t wait to see the whole studio!

  11. Meghan 18 Nov 2009

    Super cute! I should give some DIY art a try one of these days, this just might be the inspiration I need!

  13. Jess LC 19 Nov 2009

    @ All: So glad you all love the paintings! I am so glad I did the project.

    @ Sarah: Actually, they are all the same color but the metallic shine looks different on the ones closer to the window/sunlight in the photo. 🙂

  14. Magchunk 19 Nov 2009

    Cute! Now I’m trying to think of something I can paint a chevron print onto 😉

  16. Rachel 19 Nov 2009

    Wow, that is such a great idea! And the white/gold combo looks amazing! I imagine we’ll be seeing these on Apartment Therapy super soon. =) Thanks so much, I’ll be linking

  17. pk 20 Nov 2009

    These are stunning! I’m doing some posts on accessorizing your walls and I’m going to include this in one and link back if that’s okay.

    pk @ Room Remix

  18. Jess 1 Dec 2009

    @ Magchunk: I’m wondering the same thing…

    @ Susan: Thanks.

    @ Rachel: Really? You think so? I’d love to one day be on their home tours.

    @ PK: You are welcome to post and link to this, of course!

  24. bink and boo 5 Jan 2010

    WOW! This has to be one of the best DIY ideas I have seen. Great job! I am itching to give this a try myself. Thanks!

  25. Meg 11 Jan 2010

    I have a wall that I’ve dubbed the wall of shame in my living room because it’s such a big space that virtually nothing looks good there. But after seeing this awesome DIY project, I’m thinking this might be just what the doctor ordered.

    Thank you for such an inspiring idea that anyone can do!

  27. Courtney 18 Jan 2010

    I have had this page bookmarked since the day you posted, just waiting for the right time and project to make it work. It finally came to me: I live in a loft condo with my 15 month old son, and his crib is pretty much in the living area. Today I am off to get a couple of white hollow core doors and hinges. I’m going to replicate this idea on a room divider to set off his crib from the main living area. Yeah! You rock!!

  30. Pam 16 Feb 2010

    These chevron canvases look amazing!! Thanks for the great tutorial. I’m going to do this!!!
    Pam

  32. Emily 16 Feb 2010

    Love how the paintings make a such a statement and pull together the whole room and bring out the color in the chairs. Can you tell me where the pair of lamps are from? I’ve been looking everywhere for something just like those (have found close, but these are the ones!)! thanks!

  33. shalini 17 Feb 2010

    It looks really great, very elegant yet very modern. Thanks for the sharing.

  45. Inspire Me Heather 16 Mar 2011

    I’ve seen your fabulous paintings all over blog land and they are just gorgeous! I linked this to my chevron post today too, come on over and take a peek!

  47. Jen 5 May 2011

    I just stumbled upon this post and I love it! I have been thinking about doing this for awhile and this tutorial will make it so much easier! Thanks for sharing (and it looks like you ombred them in the first picture, I guess due to sunlight? I love that idea too!)

  49. Beatrice 7 May 2011

    I love them. They are so awesome. Quick question. Did you use 2 inch tape or 1? Thanks. I will definitely try to make some myself.

  53. Angie 18 Aug 2011

    Can you tell me what material your table is made out of? Thanks!

  61. Briana 16 Nov 2011

    lovely! you’ve inspired me to try this on a frumpy old dresser.

    on a separate note, where is the gorgeous table from? i’ve been looking high & low for a white marble top dining table.

  62. Jess 16 Nov 2011

    Briana, I got the table from a thrift store in Chicago – I truly lucked out!

  63. Stephanie 16 Dec 2011

    Love it! Definitely doing this soon, and i’m also going to begin blog-stalking you 🙂 But hey…. where can I find the Stencils? I went to Kelly and Olive and couldn’t quite find my way around the site. A little help?

  65. The palette at pasir ris 21 Dec 2011

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  77. Bree 25 Feb 2012

    Lovely.

    Can you please tell me the brand and color of the paint?

  78. Jess 27 Feb 2012

    Bree, the paint is by Golden Acrylics and is called Iridescent Bronze (Fine). : )

  81. Rebecca 10 Mar 2012

    Can you tell me what size of painter’s tape you used for this project? Thanks so much! I love the idea.

  82. Jess 13 Mar 2012

    Rebecca, I think the tape is the standard 1″ tape. : ) But you could use a different size to get a different look.

  84. art gallery 16 Mar 2012

    Thank you for another informative website. Where else may just I get that type of info written in such a perfect method? I have a mission that I’m just now operating on, and I have been at the glance out for such info.

  85. Funktional Home 20 Mar 2012

    Beautiful! Thats a lot of blue painters tape, but sometimes thats exactly what it takes. Well that and a lot of persistence 🙂

  88. betty 21 May 2012

    maybe i am just very creatively challenged but i am having a hard time lining up the tape using your pin method. i actually had to pencil in the pattern from the stencil and this is extremely time consuming. is there an easier way to this or am i missing something?

  89. Jess 22 May 2012

    Hi Betty, Thank you so much for your comment! I actually don’t have any secret to the pin method. I just pushed them in and then looked for the overall pattern in the dots and connected them with the tape. I’m sorry I don’t have an alternative method!

  92. Nicole 10 Jun 2012

    Love the paintings! I actually just did one and wanted to ask… How did you get your lines so clean? I had a bunch of bleed through. Also you mentioed your paint was in a tube, maybe I grabbed the wrong kind. Mine was a little bottle from Michaels. Any help is appreciated! Thanks for sharing!

  95. Rachel Vielee 29 Aug 2012

    My friend and I tried this and THE LINES DID NOT COME OUT CLEAN! We used the “painters tape” and Acrylic paint as told. The only thing we may have done differently is overlap the tape…
    Please tell me what went wrong?????

  101. April C. 15 Jul 2013

    A quick painters tip to seal the lines is to paint the board with white first, or what ever color you want underneath, let dry and then go over with the bronze. Good luck.

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