Vegetable Garden Fence Mural

My best friend and I recently put up a small fence to protect my vegetable garden (work in progress). I didn't want to just stain the fence but I didn't want to leave it natural either. I prefer whimsy. I think if you complicate things too much your brain will implode. So, I went with whimsy. I had designed an eco bag several years ago and thought the veggie cartoons would be fun to paint on the garden fence (since it is a vegetable garden).

Find Your Inspiration

Gather your stuff.

Picture/Inspiration

fence

large sharpie marker

Gesso or primer

Paint brushes/artist brush

Paint: white, black, orange, yellow, red, brown, blue (or any color you prefer your vegetables to be)

sand paper

rag (not pictured)

Matte varnish

clear stain

Free Hand

Free hand your outlines. Don't worry about messing up. You can always slather some primer over it!

Prime/Paint

I prefer to use gesso due to the thickness. I know most primers are much thicker than paint, however, I personally find it too runny. After you primer your shapes give a bit to dry. If you don't prime your doodles, all of your paint will soak into the wood and you will end up using a great deal more than you anticipated. I did all of the priming/painting in an hour due to the temperature being at a highly offensive 90 degrees.

Details

Time to paint on some wacky faces and add some greenery to these veggies!!! I also outlined the veggies with black paint. After the paint dried I used sandpaper to rough up the paint. It distressed the veggies...but made me happy! I don't like anything perfect. Granted they are cartoons but still yet...

Varnish/Seal It

I like to use a matte varnish that goes on white but dries clear. That way I can see exactly what I missed. After the varnish dried I used an outdoor wood sealer and brushed it over mural for continued protection. It's super easy and won't even take you a whole day to do! If you like please feel free to use my cartoon for your own personal use!! (Just not for commercial use please.... I like to sell my veggies on eco friendly bags. :)

Look at those weeds!