Use comic books (or color copies!) and Mod Podge to make this comic book canvas wall art – a great gift for guys or any comic book lover!
Skills Required: Beginner. It helps to have some experience with Mod Podge simply because of wrinkle prevention. However, the pieces are small and the painting is easy.
I’m a big fan of comic books. I’m kind of a nerd, but also I grew up with four brothers. So they were constantly around my house. The funny thing is that I don’t actually read them, but I do love the artwork.
And I love using them in decoupage craft projects! My husband and I recently decided to do something for my loft, so we settled on this DIY superhero canvas craft. And we definitely wanted words on there too.
So here’s the thing about wood letters – they are hard to find.
By “hard to find” I mean that 1) I use them a lot and 2) I can never find the right font I want and size that I need at the craft store. They just don’t have a big enough selection.
That is where Craft Cuts comes in . . . this online shop is amazing because you can choose any wood letters you like, in any font you like, and in any size you like.
They also do wood shapes, vinyl and monograms. Seriously – take a peek at Craft Cuts because they have everything you need for a home decor project. They are amazing!
So back to the comic wall art. The brightness and boldness of our project completely tickles my fancy. What do you think? Here’s how we made this superhero canvas idea.
Comic Book Wall Art
Gather These Supplies
- Canvases – one large and three small (we used a 16 x 20″ and three 5 x 7″)
- Craft Cuts wood letters – we got the “Mister Earl” font in 1/8″ thickness, 3″ tall (to spell the fun words you see above)
- Mod Podge Matte
- Comic books
- Acrylic paint – black, yellow, red, blue
- Paintbrush
- Scissors
- Painter’s tape
The first step was to lay out our canvases and wood letters to get an idea of how we were going to organize the project. My boyfriend had the brilliant idea of raising up the words on three smaller canvases to give it some texture. BOOM.
Paint the wood letters in the comic book colors of your choice. Of course you need to go bright. The letters were awesome quality (always a concern with wood letters, but not this time!). Set those aside.
While your wood letters are drying, begin by tearing out comic book pages and laying them out on your canvas so you can get an idea of how you want your comic wall art to look. We just kept overlapping the pages.
Then we Mod Podged them down and trimmed around the edges. Add a medium layer of Mod Podge to the canvas, put the comic book page down and smooth. Let dry for 15 – 20 minutes before putting on a top coat.
One trick I use with a canvas is to turn it over and smooth from the inside. Since canvases are so flexible, that works nicely.
Do this with the small canvases too and let everything dry.
Then BF had yet another brilliant idea to make the canvases really pop and look more like comic book strips – so he taped off the edges . . .
and painted black around them. Awesome, huh? Then let dry.
Once your wall decor is dry, you can glue everything together with craft glue. Glue the letters down and glue the smaller canvases to the large one. Because sure to use enough craft glue on the smaller canvases. Your comic wall art is complete.
I love my comic book canvas. I’m thinking it would make a fun gift for someone – like potentially for birthday or Father’s Day? What do you think? Let me know in the comments!
If you like this wall decor project, I hope you’ll check out some of these other comic book ideas:
Jack&POLLY
Sunday 17th of July 2022
I love what you & your boyfriend did and anyone would love your gift!!!
Amy
Wednesday 27th of July 2022
Thank you so much!
Elizabeth
Wednesday 4th of May 2022
Do you remember font of letters?
Amy
Thursday 5th of May 2022
Hi Elizabeth - The font is Mister Earl, but I see they don't have that anymore. I'm looking at their fonts right now and I'm thinking Astounder Kid, Barthowheel, Dimbo, or Mouse Memoirs might be what you are looking for. They are close!
Angela Fowler
Tuesday 21st of January 2014
I love this! I have no idea where to buy a comic book. Where do I start?
Amy
Tuesday 21st of January 2014
Hi Angela! I bought mine from Etsy - you can also try eBay. I believe bookstores have them as well (maybe even toy stores?)
Lorrianne White
Tuesday 29th of October 2013
This is brill! Perfect for my brother who is obsessed with comics! THANK YOU!
Where did you buy your canvases from?
Thanks
Amy
Tuesday 29th of October 2013
Hi Lorrianne! We got them from Michaels.
Kelly manning
Thursday 10th of October 2013
Wow, this is such a brilliant idea! Thanks so much for sharing !