Pirate Growth Chart Tutorial: Paint by Number

Now that you have a plan, let's fill it in. If you've missed a step, please review the last three entrees about how to make a pirate ship, doing a good base coat, and planning BEFORE you paint. So next is making your chalk into a paint-by-number. I used acrylic paints, which are easy to deal with and cheap. And I used a cheap paint brush and a toothpick to do ALL of my painting (and my fingers...cheapest tools ever).

Start with :Add the base colors (in this case, a light brown for our treasure chest and green for our palm frond).Since I was using acrylics , it is easier to do all of one color while you are working so that the paint won't dry on you. So I worked all the way up the board, taking care of all the light brown and greens.Fill in the main sections of each of your pictures with the main background color (unless it is BLACK....avoid black and white as your bases because they are HARD to undo and often too sharp a contrast). See how I moved on to the next color but am still doing MAIN sections? This will help you establish depth for your work.

Best part of using chalk to plan your work and then using acrylics can be seen right here on my X that marks the spot. I realized that it wasn't actually that straight as I was painting it, so I just painted it where I want it. The beautiful thing is that you can paint right over your chalk and since acrylics are water based, the chalk just disappears and doesn't discolor your paint! No worries about staying inside the lines! LOVE THAT! And, they clean up with water. Also a happy thing when your 16 month old grabs your paint pallet (aka, paper plate) and runs with it. Thank heavens for laminate floors.

Okies. So the detail pictures have run off with the husband, so you'll have to wait to see my excellent shading tomorrow. And I'll show you a super excellent method for getting the measuring marks in the right place the FIRST time. But not now because it is BEDTIME for BOYS! :) -Night!