How to paint terracotta pots
I love terra-cotta, but I think too much of it can be monotonous. To vary the look of these I sometimes age them by spraying them with a yoghurt solution to stimulate moss growth (a time-consuming affair), or if I want instant gratification I paint them. It is an easy and inexpensive way to dress up the garden as well as a thoughtful way to personalise a plant gift.
One of my favourite designs is based on the night sky. It’s mysterious, intriguing, and a good foil for almost any plant.
Another design I like is inspired by old gold-leaf picture frames. I love the look of the overlapping layers of gold with the red base colour showing through. For variety, I sometimes use a top coat of black paint instead of gold and scratch off a bit of the top layer to expose the red beneath. When I want a very simple treatment, a thin wash of colour that lets the terracotta show through is all it takes to make a pot shine.
YOU WILL NEED:
Clean terra-cotta pots
Acrylic craft paints in assorted colours
Small or medium foam brushes
Plastic plates
Cotton swabs
Small artist’s paint brush
Wire brush
Clear spray acrylic
Start by prepping the pot
Remove price tags and stickers from the pot by soaking it in a tub of warm water for up to an hour, then scrubbing it with a stiff brush. Allow the pot to dry completely before painting.
1. Put the paint for the base coat on a plastic plate and adjust the colour with other shades if desired. Thin the paint with a small amount of water to make it easier to coat the pot evenly. Apply the paint with a foam brush, working around the pot in broad sweeps. Extend the paint a couple of centimetres or so down into the top of the pot, but do not cover the bottom, which should be left clear for optimal drainage. The pot will absorb a lot of paint. Apply additional coats if you’d like, allowing the pot to dry between coats, until the desired color depth is achieved.
2. Soak the pot in a tub of warm water for up to an hour, then scrub it with a stiff brush.
3. Put the paint for the base coat on a plastic plate and thin it with a small amount of water and apply the paint with a foam brush.
Apply additional coats until the desired colour depth is achieved.
Celestial Pot
After the blue base coat has dried completely, choose a colour for the stars. (I like to use gold, silver, or pearlescent white.) With a cotton swab, apply a liberal dot of the paint onto the side of the pot.
1. Using a small artist’s paint brush, draw the paint out from the middle to create the star-burst effect. Start with the longest rays and finish with the shortest to ensure that you will have enough paint for each. I like to end each ray with a tiny dot of paint to make the stars seem to sparkle. Make more stars at random spots on the pot until you have as many as you want.
2. Choose a colour for the stars.
Draw the paint out from the middle to create the star-burst effect.
Make more stars at random spots on the pot.
Antique gold pot
1. After the red base coat is dry, use a wide foam brush to apply staggered patches of a muted antique gold shade. Do not dilute the gold paint in this step. The undiluted paint will go on unevenly, leaving streaks that will allow the base colour to show through, emulating gold leaf.
Rich black pot
1. After the red base coat has dried completely, apply a thick coat of undiluted black paint, completely covering the base colour on the outside surface of the pot.
2. Before the black coat dries completely, use a stiff wire brush in broad, light sweeps around the pot, scratching off just enough of the top coat to reveal the red colour below.
Finishing
After the finished pot has dried completely (this may take several days, as the drops of paint on the celestial pot are much thicker than a coat of paint), apply two coats of a clear
water based spray acrylic to seal the paint and protect the design from scratches. This layer also makes cleaning soil from the outside of the pot a little easier. I recommend a matte finish, which is less distracting than a shiny finish and tends to intensify the colours of the pot.
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