Price Points Chalkboard Artist Explains Her Process

I'm Ro Knight and I'm a chalkboard art expert.

[playful music]

[ding]

[swipe, swipe]

I'm a chalkboard artist for Epicurious Price Points

and today, I'm going to talk to you about my process.

Let's get to work!

People usually ask me if I use Crayola chalk,

not really.

Since I'm a professional, I use the good quality chalk.

Not the kids stuff.

The kind of chalk that I use are chalk pastels

and I love them because they have beautiful pigments.

I have a bunch of different brands

because that's the way I can achieve

different variety of colors and the texture.

The way I usually work, is I start with the big words

or the letters.

That's what I like to do.

And then, my work typically I have to frame things.

So, I always make a frame

and then work from there.

Those are my base for creating anything.

If you are designing something,

it's a lot easier if you have some sort

of a base that you feel comfortable with.

When I have the font that I like,

I try to make it interesting by adding depth or shades

and I paint it in a different way

or I add something in the middle so it's not too bulky.

In all that process, I just play with it.

Sometimes I paint it all white and I realize that's too much

and then I erase a little bit.

So, for example, in condiments,

I'm just adding a little shade

and I'm detailing the middle

and that makes it fun.

In the beginning, when I started making the chalkboards

for Epicurious Price Points, they explained to me

that the expert was going to be

in the middle of these chalkboards.

So, the content was supposed to be focused on the sides

and that was quite a challenge for me

because, sign wise, I couldn't see

that the middle needed to be nothing important

and then everything on the sides.

But, I work with it.

When I work I have to step back

and see what I'm doing.

For example, in this case,

I realized that the tomato that I was drawing

it was too shiny also the color was kind of wrong.

So, I changed it until I felt like

this is the tomato that I actually like.

My path to go to chalk art was a complete accident.

I am originally from Chile.

When I was little I always wanted to be an artist.

I knew that for sure, that was my thing.

But, then growing up, I realized

I won't be able to make a living.

I decided to do something else,

completely not artist related.

So, when I was 19, I became a flight attendant.

And I was a flight attendant for 13 years.

[laughing]

But, then I came to New York

and my brother, who lives here,

had a chalkboard wall in his house

and I did a photo booth as well for the party.

So, everybody took pictures.

It was a lot of fun.

And then he posted these pictures on Facebook

and somebody asked, Hey, can your sister come

and do some chalk for our new cafe?

I said, Yes!

[laughing]

And that was a challenge.

I did that and from there it was just like a snowball.

Every time that they send me a chalkboard,

I get excited because it's a new challenge.

[laughing]

So, and it's very inspiring.

If you want to do anything with chalk,

I would say enjoy it, have fun.

If you're not good at drawing,

you can print a stencil and use transfer paper.

Which, it comes in chalk and you can find it anywhere.

You can find your own way and your own style.

It's so much fun.

It's just a happy thing to do.

[lighthearted music]

[feet stepping]

I'm Scott Norton and I'm a condiment expert.