Thyme to show you a Boston Anglers Box

Today  I wanted to show you my latest project. This project is  called Boston Anglers Box Design  by Cynthia Erekson I used a reproduction  "Vintage Shoeshine Box" to paint this project on. Lets step inside my STUDIO and get started! My palette DecoArt Americana Acrylics Blue Haze Light, Camel, Graphite, Lamp Black, Bleached Sand, Ice Blue, Raw Sienna I began by lightly sanding my surface and then removing any dust. Often times on a project such as this  I combine Multi-Purpose Sealer  with my base coat. I poured Graphite plus a small amount to Lamp Black onto my palette and mixed well  with a   palette knife. I used this mixture to base coat the inside and underside  of the box with a small  American Decor Flat Brush I base coated all outer surfaces  with a heavily textured coat  of  Blue Haze Light. I use the broad flat side of a 2" sponge brush heavily loaded with paint. I then "press and lift" the paint on to my surface. I then go back over the surface pressing the brush to reduce the texture and refine the surface a bit. This is important especially in the areas that you will be painting your design. It will make detail painting easier! The box sides can be left coarser. Let surface dry. Next I dampened a silk sponge. I then squeeze it on a paper towel to remove excess water. I then dipped my sponge in Ice Blue. I lightly pounced the sponge over all outer surfaces for subtle mottling.  I let the box dry well. I measured in 1" from all sides on both sections of the top. I painted the 1" borders with Graphite leaving some background color showing through. Next, I loaded a small stencil brush with Graphite. I scrubbed the brush on a paper towel to remove most of the paint. I then lightly  scrubbed the brush on the outer edges and hinges on top of the lid sections. I added some soft darker areas to the lower box shading at the corners, edges and bottom of legs.  I let the box dry completely then lightly spattered it with thinned Graphite. I began by transferring the ground and water lines to the surface. I then started to paint the "angler" and add other details. Adding foliage to tree and the weeds. Close up view. I used  a DecoArt Stencil  called  Anchors Aweigh  to enhance the sides of my box. This is a re-usable stick on stencil! Close up of stenciled side of box. I base coated the 2 trout with Lamp Black plus Graphite. I used thinned paint and left some raw wood showing. I heavily sanded edges and across body to wear off streaks of paint. I attached the  Fish Dealer Label  to the box  with  Decou-Page I applied the medium to the back of the label . I then pressed it in place. I let the label dry completely. Once the label had dried  I applied another 2 coats of  Decou-Page  to the top of label. Let dry completely between coats. I then dabbed a wash of Raw Sienna, here and there on label to age it. I brushed on several coats  of  Dura Clear Soft Touch Varnish Top of box I like to finish the inside of my boxes as well. I had this wonderful  "fish" scrap book paper  in my stash. I measured all the insides of my box. I cut all the pieces to fit using a paper cutter. I then used  Decou-Page  in the same manner as above  to adhere the paper to the insides of the box. Inside the box! I painted the inside of the top cover  with  DecoArt Chalk Board Paint I used  a  Generals Charcoal White Pencil  to do the lettering and design. I use a  point blend brush  dipped in a small amount of water  to clean up any smudges left by the chalk pencil. ***** You MUST spray any chalk work with Fixative Spray before varnishing***** This step will prevent any chalk work from smudges once you varnish. Inside of box. Something fishy going on here! I glued the trout to the sides of box. Side of box. Another side view of box. Rosemary Reynolds  and  DecoArt  provided me with the paints to complete this project as part of  their  Helping Artist and Blogger Outreach Programs. Thank you DecoArt! I hope you have enjoyed watching me paint this Boston Anglers Box Happy Painting! Lynn