Lezo, Aklan is a haven for plantitas. We visited a relative there last year and we bought small pots for our cactus. But it was only this quarantine period that we were able to paint these pots.
It is easy to paint these clay pots. I painted the pots with my 2 daughters.
Materials needed:
- White flat latex paint
- Primary colors latex paint or acrylic paints
- Paint brushes
- Glossy emulsion
Latex paints are water soluble. They have no smell and dry fast. A flat white latex is better for underpainting than the glossy white latex paint. So be sure to buy the flat white latex paint. These are available in any hardware stores. Any paint brand will do.
For the colored paints, you can buy primary colors ( blue, red and yellow) in 250 ml. You can mix the the primary colors to make pinks, violets, greens and other colors. Other colors like burnt sienna, raw sienna and lamp black are also available. For 40 small pots, one 250 ml paint is enough. A 250ml paint costs only P50.
Paints in premixed colors are also available. These come in 1 L cans. For the first pot painting project that we did, we used premixed colors like violet, pastel green, pink, and yellow green. But we painted large pots then and also used the paints for our mural projects.
You can also use acrylic paints in tubes or poster paints. But these paints are more expensive than the latex paints in cans. You may opt to use your acrylic tube paints when painting small details on your pots.
For paint brushes, you may use the paint brushes used for painting walls. You can buy these in hardware stores. They come in 2 inch up to 1/4 inch sizes. The 1-inch size brush can cover the pot in less time. For fine details, you can buy small round or flat brushes in some hardware stores or in any art store. No need to buy the expensive ones if you will use latex paint.
Steps to paint pots
1. Wash the pots with soap and water, especially if the pots have mud and soil on their surfaces. Pots that have already been used can be cleaned thoroughly so they can be painted on. After washing, dry them under the sun for half a day. For pots that are newly bought, they are usually clean and just have dust on their surfaces. You just need to wipe the dust off.
2. Once dry, apply an underpainting of white or any light colour like flesh color. Latex paint dries in a few minutes. The good thing with putting a white underpainting is that your second color will be brighter and more vivid.
3. Prepare your colors. If you are using primary colors, mix your desired colors in small containers. For basic color combination, remember : red + blue = violet, yellow + blue = green, red + yellow = orange. You may add white paint to lighten your color.
4. Paint the pots. We made pastel pots. Watermelon pots. Bee pot. Dripping colored pot. Let your creativity flow.
Be sure to have a can of water in your working table for washing the brushes in between color, especially if you only have a limited number of brushes. Also, if you immediately wash the paint from your brushes, you can reuse your brushes for other projects.
5. Let it dry for a day. Then, paint the coloured pot with clear emulsion, either a gloss clear emulsion or a flat clear emulsion. The gloss emulsion will give the pot a little shiny finish, while the flat emulsion will not have that shine. When you open the can of emulsion, the liquid is coloured white. Do not fear. You got the right clear emulsion because once the liquid dries, it becomes transparent.
Sealing it with a clear emulsion will protect the paint on the pot. It will also protect your pots from dust and dirt such that you can easily wipe away the dust or dirt from the pot. We used gloss emulsion in this project because the pots will be placed inside the house.
Painting your pots is a fun activity you can do with your kids. If you want to upgrade the look of your pots, you may want to try this. Decorated pots are also great gifts.
Feel free to share this post to your plantita and plantito friends.
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