That’s right, this is a DIY hand painted root! I find inspiration all around me, but this is a first for me. I doubt it’s the last either because this was so much fun to do. : ) Most of the time when I find interesting things in nature, I just display them as is. This little root just needed something extra!
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The Root
My dad & I were out in his backyard one day, admiring his recent landscaping. He had been using his tractor to push up some trees & push around dirt to help water drain off. I spotted this piece of root laying off to the side. It looked interesting, so I tossed it in my truck & took it home.
It’s been in my trunk for weeks & I rediscovered recently. I had an idea about what I wanted to do, but first it needed some cleaning. The back part is holding a lot of dirt!
I did what any DIY-er would do – scrubbed it in my kitchen sink with my dish scrubber! Who wants to clean dishes with it anyway? Hee hee!
Some of the bark came off, but not all of it, which was okay with me. It had to be cleaned several times to get dirt out of all the nooks & crannies. I didn’t want dirt falling off it every time I touched it.
It cleaned up well & was much lighter without all the dirt! I really like the smooth wood that was hiding under the bark. I also wonder what kind of tree it was….
Originally I had planned on just highlighting the root with some gold paint. I got inspired {subconsciously} while cleaning up my scrapbook collection.
I say subconsciously because I didn’t think of this when I first saw the paper. It came to me as I was drifting off to sleep last night, thinking about what I needed to do today! ; )
Painting the Root
Since my work table is covered in scrapbook stuff, I set up my painting supplies on my dining room table. There’s so much natural light here I think I’ll be using it from now on for painting projects! I started by mixing up a gray tone & painting it into the torn ends of the root.
It gives it some good contrast, I think. While the paint was still wet, I went over it lightly with an aqua blue tone. Then I got busy painting white flowers….
This was very relaxing to me! It was so quiet & sunny & peaceful. I added some pink centers to the flowers & got a little worried….
It wasn’t looking exactly as I imagined, but I kept at it, adding pink, then white, & blending…
That’s looking better! To finish it off, I added some gold highlights to the flowers. I also added more aqua & some light blue highlights to the ends & in all the rough areas.
I thought the barked areas need some attention too, so I dry brushed some gold over those areas….
You can see it a little better here…
Once everything was finished, I debated on adding a clear coat for protection. In the end, I gave it two quick coats of spray lacquer. This is something that begs to be touched so you can see it all! I wanted to protect the paint & help it last.
Hand Painted Root
This turned out so awesome to me! I love looking at it!
Here’s the back….
Much better than before! The gold highlights are shining in this photo….
There’s really no part that’s not interesting to look at….
Some more close ups….
It kind of looks like the sky is coming out of the root….
Well, what do y’all think? I know I’m in love! I’ll be keeping an eye out for more roots & such to paint on. Have you seen the painted shells floating around on Pinterest? That just may be my next paint project….
Oh yeah! Have y’all seen the amazing new Cricut Maker?!? There is a baby rotary cutter attachment just for fabric! This thing looks awesome!
Pin it for later!
