Hand Painted Thankful Sign

I had an 11 x 14 wooden plaque with sunflowers that I painted a few weeks ago for an art class I’m teaching on Skilpe.com. I Googled “Thanksgiving signs” to find a message that appealed to me, added pumpkins and leaves, and viola, a Hand Painted Thankful Sign was completed and ready to adorn our piano.

Although we’ve had our problems here in the Little Cottage, I’ve been blessed in many ways. One of the ways I’ve been most favored is in my relationship with Jesus Christ. Knowing Him gives me peace because He always has a plan for using bad circumstances to bring good into my life.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NASB:

In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Materials for the Hand Painted Thankful Sign

• 11 x 14 wooden plaque or board
• paints- Apple Barrel 20403E White, 20471E Bright Yellow, 20760E Kings Gold, 20429E Christmas Green, 20713E Spring Green, 20404 Black, 20432E Nutmeg, 2608 Country Tan, 20588E Pumpkin Orange, 20366E Dark Gray, 20774E Aquamarine, 2613E Caribbean, 21396E Sublime, 2605E Crimson, 20404E Black, 44845E Light Yellow, and 21973E Summer Sky
• brushes- 1″ sponge brush, small angle brush, round brush, liner brush
• sunflower pattern- print it here.
• pumpkin pattern- print the bottom four pumpkins here.
• Thankful pattern- print it here.
• Rust-oleum 2X Ultra Cover Clear Gloss spray
• pencil
• colored chalk
• clear tape
• coarse sandpaper

Sunflower Painting Instructions

I had an 11 X 14 wooden plaque that was already painted White with the sunflower design. I’ve included everything needed to paint the plaque and sunflowers in the Materials List above. Use the instructions for painting the sunflowers from my Rustic Sunflower Painted Watering Can post.

Pumpkin Patch Painting Instructions

Print the pumpkin patch pattern and cut out the bottom four pumpkins. Measure the plaque and mark the center. Fold the pumpkin pattern in half to find its center. Align the centers together and trace around the outline with a pencil. Stray pencil marks can be easily erased at the end.

Paint the pumpkins with layers of Aquamarine and Pumpkin Orange with the angle brush until opaque. For a shortcut, paint the orange pumpkins with White first. Colors like Red, Orange, and Yellow often require many coats of paint to achieve opaque coverage. Painting them White underneath speeds the process by requiring fewer layers of paint.

For the orange pumpkins, mix Pumpkin Orange with Light Yellow, then highlight the top of the orange pumpkin with the mixed colors using the edge of the angle brush or the small round brush. Don’t worry if the original Pumpkin Orange paint is still wet. Blending paint colors while they are wet is preferable. Add Light Yellow highlights on top of that. Then, add some Crimson shading to the bottom of the pumpkin.

We’re going to do the same thing with the Aquamarine pumpkin. Blend Sublime with Aquamarine, and highlight the top of the pumpkin. Add more highlights with Summer Sky, then shade the bottom with Dark Gray.

Paint the grass underneath the pumpkins with the round brush and Sublime Lime. Wiggle in a few leaves with the round brush by mixing Dark Gray with Pumpkin Orange, then mixing Dark Gray with Aquamarine as well. Do not paint extra coats of paint on the leaves. They should be translucent.

Annie’s Kit Clubs

Paint the outer egdes of the plaque with Dark Gray and the angle brush. Lightly sand the egdes of the Dark Gray border to give your Hand Painted Thankful Sign a weathered look. Paint your initials and the last two digits of the year with Aquamarine and the liner brush. Paint in some detailed grass using the liner brush, Light Yellow, White, and Sublime. Outline the pumpkin stems, and make defining lines on the pumpkins with Dark Gray and the liner brush.

Print the Thankful pattern and fold it in half to find the center. Measure and mark the center of the plaque. Rub colored chalk on the back of the pattern. Align the center of the pattern with the center of the plaque and apply a small piece of clear tape to keep it in position. Trace over the pattern. When you remove the paper the chalk pattern will be visible. Fill in the letters with Black and the liner brush. Wiggle in more leaves with the round brush by mixing Dark Gray with Pumpkin Orange, then mixing Dark Gray with Aquamarine.

When everything is nice and dry, take the project outside and spray it with several coats of 2X Rust-oleum Ultra Cover Gloss Spray.

Happy Fall,

Kristie

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