My Experience Commissioning a Painting in Dayton by Etch

Since I first started seeing his work pop up here and there, I have been a huge fan of Christopher Etch Weyrich, the prolific street artist known for his ‘birdboon’ characters emblazoned on buildings and walls all around Dayton.

I kept an eye on his work on Instagram and one style of artwork I kept seeing and admiring was the calligraphy mandala that he creates on canvas. One random day I decided it was time to have one of my own so I reached out to get the process started. Here’s how it went!

Step 1: Reach out and connect

I started by introducing myself on Instagram and explaining what I was looking for. Etch made it easy by breaking the process down into small steps so I didn’t have to decide every single thing at once.

Step 2: Size and material

I knew I wanted a square canvas but I really didn’t know what size. I pulled up a comparison photo of several canvas sizes and that definitely helped me understand the scale. I decided on 24×24 or 30×30 and we ultimately went with 24×24.

Etch was open to other surfaces – even a large wood piece, etc. but a normal canvas was definitely more what I had in mind so that’s what we went with.

Step 3: Colors and accents

This was very easy for me – I knew I wanted a black background with white and metallic gold. I have a feeling he would have done any number of color combinations, though.

Step 4: Words and phrases

Because this piece features calligraphy, there’s an opportunity to have it say anything meaningful to you. This is where I had the most trouble because I couldn’t settle on anything. In the end I went with a list of names of pets and people who are precious to me.

Step 5: Pay and pick up

Etch had me pay a deposit to get started and then the rest on delivery, which took almost no time at all! It was nice to break up the payment and also to pick it up in person so neither of us had to deal with shipping.

Step 6: Display and admire

I haven’t hung this on the wall yet (we are waffling between moving or signing another year lease – it’s a whole thing). But I do have it near where it will be and already it’s such a feature in our home. I look at it all the time – it catches the light in so many ways. The layers of the calligraphy look like physical discs stacked on top of one another but it’s just shading – the painting itself is flat. It’s such a neat effect – it’s like magic. Plus, it’s fun to find all the names in it. I really can’t say enough about how incredible this piece is and how easy this process was. I’m so, so happy with how it turned out.

If you’re thinking about getting a custom piece of art for your home, you absolutely should. Dayton has so many amazing artists and many will work with customers to create custom pieces just for you. If you’re interested in working with Etch on a painting, or if you just want to see more of his work, visit his Instagram.