How To: Make A Framed Chalkboard

For my list of fun goals for the year I revisited one I never accomplished last year and tweaked it a bit. I was inspired by one of my friends from my college art classes and really look forward to drawing more this year as I loved doing my sketch book 2-day draw last year.

Here is the first step to accomplishing it!

"#2:  Chalkboard frame and drawings:

This is a re-visit of a project I wanted to accomplish last year, my "create a masterpiece". Because I could never decide what to paint over the thrifted painting I bought, I finally decided I want to paint over it with chalkboard paint and do chalkboard drawings on it throughout the year. This also gives me the chance to exercise my drawing skills, which I am excited to do again."

Here are the steps to making your own framed chalkboard!

Materials:

1. Framed thrifted painting

2. Chalkboard paint

3. Foam rollers and tray

4. Butter knife

5. Paint stirrer

6. Chalk and rag for erasing

Buy a large framed art piece at a thrift store.

Use butter knife to bend staples on the back away from the backing so that you will be able to remove the painting.

Set up painting area. Read directions on chalkboard paint can to make sure you are in the correct temperature recommended for painting etc.

First coat of paint

This is the first coat drying. Read directions on paint can to know how long to wait between coats.

Second or third coat. I would recommend using a wider sponge roller than I did so that you can paint each coat quicker and have less areas of texture where the paint started to dry too fast. 

After letting the paint dry for three days (as per directions on can) I conditioned the board by covering it with chalk, using the wide side and then erasing it all off. This leaves a coat of chalk that provided for the best erasability. 

After being conditioned and erased- ready for a drawing!

Frame waiting for it's new chalkboard.

Insert chalkboard face down and use butter knife to press back down the frame staples to hold board in place.

Ready for a drawing!

Things I learned:

1. If the chalkboard paint looks uneven while drying- it is. Repaint it if you want it to look smooth.

2. For smoother paint job, get a bigger sponge roller.

3. Sanding the dried paint with fine grit sandpaper didn't fix the problem of unevenness. But maybe it helped?

4. Once board is conditioned and a drawing is on it, you don't really notice the board imperfections.


I am excited about this project and am really looking forward to doing some drawings!