Zoo Animal Paintings: Giraffe, Lion & Zebra

When I found out I was pregnant with my son, we began to think about how we wanted to do his room. I thought about just buying a blue fitted crib sheet to match the pillow and blanket my grandma had made but then I came across a safari bed set on a yard sale site for only $40. It had barely been used and came with a fitted sheet, comforter, diaper holder, crib skirt, bumper pad (we didn't use) and curtain (we didn't use); plus it matched the extra fitted sheet we already had and the blanket my grandma made the only thing missing was wall decorations. I had three blank canvases I had bought to make paintings for my daughters room but never got around to doing it so decided to just use those and paint safari animals for my son's room. I chose to paint a giraffe, lion and zebra to match the crib set.


All you need are some canvases, paint and paint brushes. I used cheap acrylic paint from Hobby Lobby, sponge paint brushes I already had and a small tip paint brush for the details - eyes, mouths, etc... First I painted the canvases a solid color and let them dry. I mixed the solid color I chose with some white paint to make them lighter. I matched the backgrounds to the crib sheet colors and choose theses animals because we bought a Giraffe wub-a-nub and a blanket that had a Zebra on it for my son.; the Lion matches the blue safari blanket my grandmother had made.You can paint any safari animal you prefer and use any color background you prefer.
Next I painted an outline of the animals using the main color of the animal (yellow, white, orange/brown). You can sketch it on your canvas with a pencil if you prefer, but I like to just go with it. Fill in the animal's body and let dry. I used a sponge brush because it was faster. Once everything is filled in I used a thin tip brush to go over the outline, making everything as straight as I could and to add the details such as eyes, mouths, whiskers, etc... Let dry. Once the canvases are dry you are finished and have three super cute paintings for your baby's room! You can cover your finished canvases with a canvas sealer if you prefer but I haven't and they are still in great shape.

These three paintings took me two days to complete but I also had a one year old running around and was pregnant so got tired of painting. You could probably finish them in one, especially if you aren't chasing around a little one.


***Check out the Safari Baby Mobile I made to match my son's Safari nursery!