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).

Step 1: 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

Step 2: Free Hand

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

Step 3: 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.

Step 4: 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...

Step 5: 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!