It seems that wherever you go, there’s a chalkboard drawing. On the wall of your favorite coffee shop, at the neighborhood deli or even a reunion or wedding, you’re liable to run into a beautiful chalkboard illustration.

We’ve come a long way from teachers’ assignments or hopscotch patterns on the sidewalk. With new techniques and products, anyone can create an eye-catching and appealing display that’s inexpensive and infinitely adaptable.

Create Your Design

Mess around with paper and pencil to get your design just right. Whether it’s all text or a mixture of text and graphics, spend some time getting everything down on paper.

Using the dimensions of your chalkboard as a sizing guide, create the general shape on paper. Use an easy dimension, like 1”x1” on the paper to divide the space evenly. Then recreate the same grid on the chalkboard with a size that works with the board. It may be 2”, 3” or 4”, depending on the size of your chalkboard.

Now, go ahead and create! When you’re happy with your design, transfer the drawing to the chalkboard, following the grid and placing the components of the design in the corresponding spaces.

Chalk pencils work great for the initial grid and the drawing outline, as they make fine, thin lines.

Another way of transferring your design onto the chalkboard is to trace the components. If you’re using images you’ve created in a computer program or found online, print out the images. Use white transfer paper to copy your image line-for-line onto your board.

Just place the image on the board with a sheet of transfer paper between the paper and the board. Simply use a pencil and trace the image, and you’re ready to start filling in the design with chalk. Great for complex images, this is an easy way, whether it’s text or graphics.

Complete Your Masterpiece

Now that you’ve got your design on your chalkboard, it’s time for the really fun part! Get out your collection of chalk and start filling in those designs.

You can use a variety of chalk products on most chalkboards. You can certainly go ‘old school’ and use the tried and true chalk folks have been using for years. Except nowadays, there are tons of colors, sizes and shapes of the perennial chalk you may remember from childhood. There are big, fat sticks that are perfect for creating wide swathes of color.

You can also purchase skinny chalk and chalk holders, as well as chalk pencils for adding details and fine lines.

A great addition to your chalk palette is liquid chalk. This modern take on blackboard chalk is perfect for creating bold and vivid chalk posters and is available in loads of colors and tip thickness.

If you want to take your chalk art to the next level, you’ll find lots of books on the subject. Some very creative and innovative folks have not only taken chalk art seriously, but they have published how-to books with tips, tricks and ideas that will encourage and inspire you. So grab your chalk and get busy with this fun craft that everyone in the family can enjoy.