Gourd Santa Step by Step

The gourd Santa is all done. I wanted to write a more detailed step-by-step tutorial, but I think I'll have to wait until I get more time on the library computers, or until I get something better than dial-up. I did get it listed on Etsy in time for Christmas so that's a start.

Here is a brief list of steps:

1. Find a Santa shaped gourd and clean it well.

2. Coat with gesso, let dry and sand with fine sandpaper a bit to smooth surface again.

3. Draw light guidelines on gourd with a pencil

4. Block in colored areas with first coat of paint using a medium brush.

5. Let dry thoroughly

6. Go in with finer brush and do all the detail work, making sure every part gets at least 2 coats of paint.

7. Sign your gourd

8. Coat with clear acrylic spray

9. Enjoy

Gourd Santa Step-by-step

In spite of my frustration and confusion about Christmas, sometimes I get a hankering to make something Christmassy. So I was staring at this gourd in my yard, and it was staring back, and I started to think,"I bet that gourd would make a good Santa." So I washed it all up, and noticed it had a broken/soft spot about a nickle in size.  Rats. I can still use it for a birdhouse or something, but since the Santa is all in one piece it wouldn't work for that.  So I went out to the studio and got another one of a similar shape and got it all cleaned up.

So now I'm about 3/4 of the way done with the Santa. It suddenly got blustery outside and I got hungry so I put it all away until tomorrow. But I plan to make a step-by-step how-to to go with it.