How I paint a Maine Lobster on a buoy

Today, I thought I would share my painting process for my most popular design - Maine Lobsters on buoys.

 These buoys are 2 3/4" tall.  Perfect for Wedding favors, Key Chains and Christmas ornaments, all available at my Etsy Shop MaineWeddingArtist 

I start by painting two coats of white acrylic paint on a wooden buoy. 

I use red and orange paint for the lobster and black for the eyes.  

I have five steps using a size 0 round brush, to get the basic form of the lobster, starting with head, then the body & tail.  Then I paint most of the front claws.

 I switch to an even smaller brush size 0/10 round for the very fine details for the last four steps.  I start by finishing up the front claws, then add the legs, tentacles and the eyes. 

  

 

I let the buoys dry for 24 hrs.

 I tie on a 12" length of twine and seal them with one coat of water based acrylic varnish.  This adds durability and brings out and enhances all the colors.  I love this part!  It's like putting frosting on a cake.  Oh, I forgot to mention, these make great additions to cake toppers for nautical/coastal inspired events.

I can tie the twine on to the buoys in two different ways.  The buoys can hang tip up with an eye screw, so they have that popular look, like when you see them on barns and sheds.  Or handle up, so they have the look of bobbing in the ocean, to mark the location of the lobster traps.

This is one of my most popular custom designs requested for weddings.

 I paint my signature Maine Lobster design on many surfaces, along with a few of my other popular designs, Maine Lupines and Blueberries.  I will share how I paint them on a future blog post.  Until then you can see many more of designs and offerings both at my website maineweddingartist.com and my Etsy Shop MaineWeddingArtist.