Hand Lettered Chalkboards
Recently, I had the pleasure of being asked to hand letter chalkboard menus for the First Watch restaurants in Miami. Being a graphic artist, and muralist, this sounded like a fun project. I had parameters, but there was leeway to add my own touches. The following are samples of the boards I did. I did a total of 18 boards. Not all were easy, but all were rewarding.
Not all signs had a great chalkboard texture. Some weren't "seasoned", and others were bumpy or overly smooth, making the chalk not stick properly. One was tucked behind a ToGo order shelf anchored to the floor. I layed across it to draw. The chalk I used made a difference. I got cheap craft store chalk (in bulk!), and that worked fine for the white, but the colors were thin and weak. What worked the best were Crayola ® chalk in the kids' coloring area of Michaels.
The Crayola® chalk was soft, and richly colored. I really liked that. It did pose a little problem on the fine lines, but I kept shifting the angle to get the edges. It helped being so wide, so I could do the thicker lines quicker.
It took me around 4 hours per store to draw all the boards, give or take an hour. I had a great time, and met lovely people. I was even complimented on my lips!
If you are wanting to try chalk lettering, don't be shy. It is really a forgiving medium. Lettering is pretty easy, and you can enhance the look of the letters by drawing block letters, then adding color lines down the side, or doubling the vertical lines. There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube.com to help you get started. I will link my video when it goes up!
Happy lettering!
