Refurbished froggy!

I've been enjoying some creativity over the past few weeks.  As you can see, painting the gnome markers prompted a long overdue froggy makeover.

My large concrete frog was purchased from an op-shop when we lived in Victoria.  It may have cost $5.00.  I don't really remember. 

I had planned to paint it back then but Tea managed to break his foot during one of her romps - and so he languished in the garden till we moved.  I actually thought he had been culled before our move, so was surprised to see him in Queensland!

Nick fixed the broken foot and I started some cosmetic work.  The base coat was a good frog green - straight out of the tube.  It was a bit flat, so I dabbed other shades of green over it - there were two layers of those and then a dusting of gold as well.  I worked with cotton balls initially but they weren't ideal so I scrunched a piece of rag for the later coats. 

The tummy had a base coat of pale creamy yellow and then other similar shades dabbed over with cotton buds.  Lots of overlapping dots. It gives a variegated, mottled effect.  Again, several layers were involved.

At one stage he had a pinkish mouth but I wasn't overly happy with that, so changed to a creamy yellow - along the lines of a white-lipped tree frog! 

His right foot was a problem.  I tried several effects in an attempt to differentiate between it and the rest of his body.  Nothing worked though, so I gave up and made the foot sole a similar varied green.

A black permanent marker was handy for doing the eyes. Several coats of sealer were applied and he sat curing in the sunshine on the back table for a couple of days. He's now happily guarding the back door with his froggy family, which makes me smile as I walk up the stairs!