Pallet Wood Painted Fish
Pallet Wood Painted Fish
This past month I’ve been sharing my adventures with built in bunk beds, closing up a wall and then adding a DIY crab sign.
Before deciding on the crab sign for my empty wall, my thoughts were totally going towards a bunch of fish, maybe about 5, stacked colorfully on top of one another. Two weeks later, my thoughts were totally going towards a vintage crab sign. Give me another two weeks and I would probably change my mind again if I didn’t just make the sign.
Even though I had already filled in the empty wall, I still had fish on the brain and decided to just paint a couple because they really are fun and easy.
I was going to use a couple pieces of extra wide pallet wood for my fish background but I found these boards I had painted a couple of years ago for a spindle stool. You can find how they were painted here…
…but if you don’t want to go back and look at the step by step, the boards are finished with a coat of black chalk paint, followed by a layer of teal then splotches of white. A handheld sander smoothed out all the edges and revealed all the layers of paint. A coat of vintage wax (painted on and rubbed off), gives the boards an aged look.
Draw a fish shape on each of your background pieces.
Because the boards were finished with a wax, I’m using white chalk paint to fill in the outlines of the fish. Chalk paint covers everything. 😆
The white will make the colors brighter without having to paint 3 or 4 coats.
Now is the time to use your creativity to paint your fish. It doesn’t have to look like an actual fish, just use your imagination.
Even with a white chalk paint primer, the acrylics still needed a second coat.
Before I go on, here are a couple of fish I painted back in 2015, just to give you a few more ideas.
Or this fun pair, turned into coat racks with tinker toys.
If you need even more inspiration, just google “painted wooden fish” and your creative juices will be set ablaze.
Now back to the project at hand…Add a second coat of acrylic paint. If you would like shading or highlights add those while your undercoat is still wet. Just a few dabs of paint and blend with either your finger or paint brush.
The white circles were created by sticking the end of the marker in white paint and dabbing.
Each frame was created with one piece of pallet wood cut in half lengthwise and nailed to the fish painted plank.
The freshly cut pallet corners were disguised with brown paint mixed with just a few drops of white.
As always, stay safe and stay inspired.
If you love fish and need more inspiration, I have a few more of my older fishy projects for you.
A fish is also the perfect shape for a directional sign ! Pallet Wood Sign Post DIY
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How cute they all are! Love it!