Crafting with Pallets: Swimming Pool Fun and Rules Sign Painting

So my daughter got a new large pool for her back yard, it's awesome, we all love to swim, the kids grew up swimming a lot, at the lake, the beach, and many pools over the years.
Well she said to me the other day I need a pool sign, I was thinking something cute on like flamingos and a beach, can you do something with that idea?
Sure I said, so I came home and painted the bottom half and she finished the top, together we make quite a great crafty team

What you Need:
Craft Acrylic Paints
Craft Acrylic Brushes( the better they are the more they cost)
A Paint Pallet(to hold wet paint)
Some boards to paint on(we used Pallets(yes the pallet craze has hit us too)
Ideas or Patterns to paint with(I looked around for ideas, then hand drew my own)
Acrylic spray clear finish in matte or shiny

Pick your colors before you start

You can find these at craft stores, online, or even walmart

Handy paint pallets are helpful but you can use a Styrofoam plate too

You can either draw a design and trace it onto your board with craft transfer papers

or free hand it which is what I did today

This is the beach design

so here is part of my design on a painted board(my daughter painted the boards)

Once the design is sketched onto your board

your'e ready to paint

Put out colors you need for one object at a time because acrylic colors dry fast and you'll waste paint

if you put out globes of colors at one time

You also have to work fast if shading and highlighting with acrylics for a project like this

or use a medium extender to keep the paint bendable for a while

for acrylic classes you can search YouTube for some good ones

or your local craft store, art galleries,the library may have a list of places too, or some colleges have good classes that are reasonable priced

First I worked on the pretty pink Flamingo

She's so cute, I gave her pretty glasses too

and a pool tube for the swimming pool so she doesn't drown :)

A little highlights and line work and she's ready for the sign

Then I went to work on the beach sand and sun

Mr Sun is so cool he needs shades too!!

Now the sign is ready for the top of the board

My daughter is putting this together with more boards in a pretty blue

with Letters painted stating POOL RULES

She is going to put this up in her pool area, they had 8 ton of sand hauled in to make a little beach around the pool

It's like heaven because I love the beach and I no longer live near one 

This is the finished bottom of the sign

I will post more pictures when the sign is completed