How to Paint a Lawn Gnome in 3 Easy Steps
Introduction
Summer is here! Time to get your lawn gnome ready to sit, stand, garden, fish and whatever else gnomes do. Here is a quick and easy guide to lawn gnome dominance for anyone new to crafts and painting. For more experienced garden gnomists you may find some interesting ideas you hadn’t considered. I used an assortment of craft and miniature brushes and acrylic paint marketed for craft stores. You can find a list of materials I used at the end of the article and yes I used the word gnomist.
Now is a great opportunity to do some lawn gnome maintenance. Painting is a fun, meditative and rewarding activity and lawn gnomes make it easy. In this article I am going to walk you through a few basic steps to get your gnome prepared, painted, and protected. It doesn’t take much effort to get your gnome yard-ready and this project can also be a fun way to personalize your outdoor or indoor space. The article has additional information not covered in the gnome painting video so you should watch the video first if you haven’t.
Prepare your Gnome
Before we can add paint we need to clean our lawn gnome. A simple dip in a sink or bucket with some warm soapy water will help remove any grime or dirt. I used an old toothbrush and a cleaning brush to remove as much loose dirt as I could. If there is some dirt left on, we will paint over it. On my cleaning attempt I removed extraordinarily little dirt. My lawn gnome belonged to my grandpa and this dirt was so old it had become part of the gnome. So, give it your best shot and when you start to get bored jump to step 2. It’s a lawn gnome after all, there are more important things to do than clean ceramics for hours. The objective here is to remove loose dirt and grime and ensure paint can be applied. You just don’t want to paint the ladybug on your gnome’s shoulder only to find out it’s a lump of dirt that crumbles off.
Repair damages
Now is a good time to repair any gnome damages. No damage? Don’t even read this step. It’s madness, and probably not specific to whatever issue you may have….unless you want to try your hands at creating the rare Kitsugi gnome.
In the gnome video attached to this article I use a modeling putty called “green stuff”, or Kneadadite, to repair a crack and hole in the gnome’s hat. You may not have “green stuff” kicking around. Gorilla glue, white glue, bandages, tape or Kitsugi are all possible options. “Kitsugi” means mending with gold and it involves gluing pieces together with gold in between the pieces. We can do this with other paint colors just as easily. Here are a few options when repairing gnome damage.
Option 1: Hide the repair. Fix the repair so no one notices; in a way that you can paint over your fix. This is easy to do with small damages like the one I demonstrate. It’s possible to use modeling clay, modeling putty, glue, filler, or even wall spackling.
Option 2: Make the damage part of the gnome. You can also really embrace the damage and bandaid or bandage any breaks. Just cover the bandages with glue or something like mod podge. You can paint the joined pieces for a less “lifelike” gnome and more of an artistic piece. For our lawn gnome version of Kitsugi we would simply mix some paint with the glue. This can be done with the color intended for the broken pieces or something that contrasts with the colors. If anyone is making a gnome with golden painted cracks please send it me. That sounds super fun and challenging. You can bring on a new age of Art Deco lawn gnomes.
Option 3: Hitting the gnome with a hammer is an option if you can’t easily repair your gnome or don’t want to. Someone once found an angel statue inside a lawn gnome. What might you find? Please wear proper safety glasses before smashing your ceramics. You can use the pieces to plug the bottom of flower pots. In many cases the hole in plant pots can be too big and a few pieces of pottery at the bottom can help let out water without losing any soil. Then go buy or make a new lawn gnome and start at this next step.
Paint your lawn gnome
Welcome to why we are all here. This is the funnest step and luckily takes the most time.
Priming the gnome is something to consider. I didn’t prime in the demonstration video to show that this isn’t necessary and could save you money. You can spray on a primer or paint your gnome white first. You are simply trying to avoid colors bleeding through your new paint job. Priming also helps ensure you are painting on a uniform coat of paint as opposed to oil or a material your paints don’t react well with. But you already cleaned your gnome so that shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Plan out your colors. Check out other lawn gnome pics online. I liked the traditional blue shirt, red cap color scheme so I changed my gnomes coat from green to blue.
Apply a base coating of paint. I used a larger brush for most of this step and smaller brushes for small detail areas like the eyes. For many people this just means paint the coat a color then go paint the rest until everything has paint on it. Move on. For the rest of you fledgling artists I have included a few more steps to really make your painting pop.
Apply a shade. I demonstrate the use of a citadel shade product but there many similar products out there sometimes called shades or ink washes. I recommend using what you have or if you are really excited about trying new materials I have included a list of products at the end of the article. Add black to blue, for example, and paint this between the arms or within the wrinkles of the cloth. Any area that would receive less light. You can put a light above your gnome to help show you where these areas are. The shade wash really helped with high texture areas like the furry boots and beard hair. I don’t recommend it on smooth areas like the face, hat or coat. Mixing and painting in these shadows works best. New artist tip: Before trying to add shadows to a yellow shirt or pink hat, do a quick search on how to darken the colors you are using.
Apply highlights. Hit the raised areas of the gnome with lighter tones. Areas that would receive more light and places like the tops or peaks of folds can be painted like this. For most colors this means adding a bit of white. Don’t try this with the red cap! To highlight red mix in a bit of yellow or orange. For newer artists this is another time to do a bit of research to find out how best to lighten the color you’re using. Miniature paint ranges include the darker and lighter tones with the base colors. This makes it easy to know what paint to use but can become problematic if you’re trying to use different paints. Miniature paints are typically quite small and expensive relative to craft paints so I don’t recommend them for something this size.
The details of the gnome I painted stand out because areas transition from dark to light. If you highlight too much you can lose the affect the highlighting has. The entire gnome will just look lighter. Try to consciously think about maintaining your 3 paint layers: base colors, darker shadows and highlighted areas on each part of the gnome.
These 3 basic steps of base coat, shades, and highlights will really add depth. This requires a bit more comfort with painting but keep in mind that your gnome will look amazing. You’re painting it, so it is already unique and interesting. No one can buy another one.
Protecting your new friend
Apply a sealant that works with the paints you used. We want to waterproof our paint as our gnome will most likely sit outside in the rain, get mucky in a garden or grassy on a lawn. I used Kamar Varnish by Krylon and applied the spray once the gnome was completely dry following the instructions on the can. The spray can is labelled “non-yellowing protection for oil, acrylic and watercolor paintings”. This spray resulted in a somewhat semi-gloss look. You can choose products that will result in a glossier or matte finish.
There you have it. 4 Simple steps to guide you through the creation of a piece of art. You just painted and put your painting out into the world to see. Did you run into any issues that could help other painters? Did your children, friends, or partner get involved? Do you walk into your garden or backyard and enjoy seeing your lawn gnome sitting there? I would love to hear about how your projects went so please email me pictures or comments to azelzor@darkhatstudios.com.
Materials
Here is a list of supplies I used and some alternative products. I did this project with remaining craft materials from children’s birthday parties. I recommend using what you have at home but if you are low on art supplies, any craft store paints and brushes will work fine. I avoid any brushes with very plastic looking handles and bristles because I find they are just too cheap to be worthwhile. Anything above that price range should work for you.