How to Paint a Clay Trout Sculpture

Trout come in several varieties including rainbow, brown, bull, golden and brook. Each has its own set of colors and variations that you'll want to follow to make your fish sculpture look as authentic as possible. Follow your original reference pattern you used to carve the clay if it's in color.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paint
• Paintbrushes, sponges or spray paint

1. Let trout sculpture dry on a flat board for 5 to 7 days.

2. Choose a painting method or combine methods to paint your clay trout sculpture. Paint by hand with paint brushes or sponges; or spray paint the fish.

3. Paint the trout with three distinct colors so it looks natural. The colors on a trout are basically lighter grey or silver on the bottom, darker blue on the top, and a mid-green through the center of the body.

4. Start with the bottom third of the fish body. Pain the light silver color first using either a spray paint with an even stroke or an acrylic paint and brush.

5. Use a lazy Susan or pestal to turn the fish as you paint the top of the body. Use a blue-colored paint to cover the top third of the fish.

6. Finish by painting the mid-section of the trout body using a green color paint. Overlap both the top and bottom thirds slightly so the entire fish is painted.

Tips & Warnings

• Put a layer of newspaper or other protective material down under your sculpture before you begin painting to protect your work surface.