Hand Painted Ocean Life Silhouette Seashells

Not a professional artist or decorative painter? Don’t worry, these hand-painted ocean life Silhouette seashells can be made by beginners! Silhouette designs are some of the easiest designs you could ever paint thanks to them always being in a single color with no fine details.

When it comes to patterns and templates you can do a Google image search for free ones, cut images out of children’s coloring books, magazines, used greeting cards, etc. to get the shape that you need. Of course, you can hand draw your own too! You may need to resize images to fit onto the seashell.

We used 4″ and 5″ wide clam shells that we collected from the beach. Washed them in warmy soapy water using Dawn Liquid Dish Soap. Rinse with clean water. Take them outside to dry in the warm air and sunshine for 2-3 days, depending on the weather. They need to be completely dry before painting on them.

Base coat your shells with 2-3 coats of acrylic craft paint in desired color allowing for 30-45 minutes of drying time between each coat. Once dry use a pencil to trace around your outline shape. In this case we made a sea turtle, seagull, and a shore bird. Use black acrylic craft paint and a brush to fill in the entire shape making sure you cover the pencil lines. You may need a second coat of black paint.

You can stop there are decide to add a little color by decorating the outer edge of the shell. We dipped the end of the paint brush into acrylic paint and made simple polka dots around the entire outer edge of the shell. Let dry for 1-2 hours or until the paint is no longer tacky.

Take the painted seashells outside. Spray them with 1-2 coats of a clear acrylic sealer with a glossy finish. This will protect the painted surface from chipping, cracking, or the colors from fading. You can then display them inside or outside of your home.

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