Diane M Kellogg
- Mar 22, 2021
- 4 min read

Little Crab

by Isabelle Desroches, Création Isa

Surface

Kids beach chair or linen beach bag

Project supplies

Ball stylus

Pencil

Fine sandpaper for the wooded part of the chair

Palette paper

Tracing paper

Graphite paper Black and White to transfer the design

Clean rag

Water container

Sanding paper no. 400

Iron and cotton sheet to fix colors at the end

Palette

DecoArt Americana Acrylics

DA 142 Blue Green

DA 100 Ultra Deep Blue

DA 134 Yellow Green

DA 240 Cool White

DA 067 Lamp (Ebony) Black

DA 014 Cadmium Orange

DA 163 Honey Brown

DA 056 Olive Green

DA 063 Burnt Sienna

DA 194 Marigold

DA 191 Camel

DA 035 Navy Blue

DA 043 Salem Blue

Mediums

DAS 10 Fabric Painting medium DecoArt

Light Satin Varnish Decoart

Brushes

Liner 10/0 Princeton

Flat brush 1/4, 1/2, 3/8, and 1”

Angular brush 1/4 and 3/8

Rond no. 5

Deer foot 3/8 Dynasty brush

Lunar Blender 1/4 and 3/8 Princeton

Instructions for the chair.

I had an old beach chair in my garage and wanted to give it a personalized look so I decided to sew a new back and seat with natural linen that I painted afterward with this little crab.

If you have a small beach chair it is worth the time and fun to refresh it. Otherwise, you can paint this project on a nice natural linen beach bag.

First of all, sand the arms of the chair and other wooded parts with fine sanding paper grid no. 400 for a nice smooth surface.

Dust with a clean rag and then prepare the following mix.

Ultra Deep Blue + Yellow-Green (slowly add Yellow-Green to achieve the desired color) and then mix with Clear glaze medium (1:2) to get a nice Blue-Green wood dye. Apply on all wooded surfaces using a 1” flat brush.

Let dry and apply two coats of Light Satin Varnish using your favorite flat brush for varnish.

The next instructions will be the same for the chair or the beach bag and consider following the instructions for base coating the seat of the chair in the meantime.

It is usually recommended to wash the linen before painting it but be careful with that step to make sure your linen is not wrinkled at the end of the process. I personally prefer to hand wash it and to let it dry flat.

When you are ready, transfer the main lines of the pattern using black graphite paper and a medium ball stylus. Don't press too hard so you don’t go through the tracing paper. You can also use a plastic sleeve to avoid that.

Before applying the paint

Mix paint with Fabric painting medium in the following ratio 2:1. Mix well.

Apply two or three thin coats to get a nice base color.

Bucket - Olive Green with a flat 3/8

Beach shovel - Salem Blue with a flat 1/4 and a Rond no. 5.

Crab - Cadmium Orange with a flat 1/2 and à Rond no. 5.

Eyes - Cool White, Blue-Green mix and Lamp (Ebony) Black with à Rond no. 5.

Sea star - Marigold with à Rond no. 5. Tint with a mix of Honey Brown and Fabric medium 1:2.

Shades

Beach bucket -

Navy Blue

Using a 1/4 and 3/8 angular brush shade the crab contour, under the bucket rim, on the higher part of the bucket, and under the shovel.

Crab -

Navy Blue

Using a 1/4 and 3/8 angular brush shade the bottom of the head, the top of each leg and the crab’s pincer and on the right side of each part of the pincer. Shade the small legs using a 1/4 Angular brush.

Sea star or Starfish -

Navy Blue

Using a 1/4 angular brush shade the star contour.

Shovel -

Navy Blue

Using a 1/4 angular brush shade all parts of the shovel referring to the picture.

Highlights

Using either a 1/4 or 3/8 Lunar Blender brush, highlight all parts of the bucket, crab and shovel with Cool White.

Sea star or starfish -

Camel and Cool White

Using a 10/0 Liner brush, dot each leg of the star and the top part referring to the picture.

Sand, bucket, and shovel -

Using a 3/8 deer foot brush and Honey Brown, stipple the sand over the bucket and under the shovel, the crab, and the star.

Shade with Burnt Sienna when the paint is dry then highlight with Camel.

Highlight the bucket and shovel with Cool White using a 10/0 Liner brush.

Add some loose grains of sand using a ball stylus and Burnt Sienna.

Transfer the crab’s mouth with a white graphite paper and then paint it Navy Blue with a 10/0 Liner brush. Highlight with Cool White when it's dry.

Eyes

Shade with Lamp (Ebony) black around the pupil using a 3/8 angular brush and then paint Salem Blue lines with the 10/0 Liner brush all around the iris.

Pupil

With Cool White, paint a comma stroke with a 10/0 Liner brush and a dot with a stylus.

Seat of the chair