How to Paint a Nautical Scene on a Cabinet

Cover the work area with a tarp or newspaper. If the cabinet is portable, place it atop the tarp or paper. Completely cover the area beneath a hanging cabinet or around immobile cabinets to protect the room from paint drips.

Sand the areas of the cabinet designated for the nautical scene using a fine-grit sanding block. Sanding removes coatings that may otherwise keep the paint from adhering well. Wipe the cabinet down with a tack cloth.

Clean the project area of the cabinet with a household cleaner and damp sponge, allowing it to dry completely.

Cover areas that you do not want to paint with painter's tape to protect them.

Open the all-in-one primer/paint and stir it with a stir stick. Pour some of it into a painter's tray.

Prime the entire project area using the primer/paint and a paintbrush, keeping strokes primarily in the same direction (up and down or side to side) for a more uniform appearance. This tinted primer also acts as the base or background color for the nautical artwork, so choose a color that works well with your nautical scene, such as sky blue.

Set up the overhead projector so it's plugged in and ready to project toward the cabinet. Place the nautical image you'd like to recreate in the overhead projector and turn the projector on. Adjust the projector as needed so the projected image is sized and aligned to your liking on the cabinet. Skip this step if you'd like to create the image by hand instead.

Trace the imagery on the cabinet using chalk or a pencil, or freehand draw your chosen images in chalk, if creating your own artwork. Mark areas of detail as well, such as windows on a lighthouse or stripes on a boat's sail, for instance.Turn off the projector once you have traced all the details.

Squirt small pools of several colors of acrylic craft paint near each other on a scrap piece of cardboard, such as red for part of a boat or lighthouse, or gray for rocks on a break wall.

Paint over the traced lines using an appropriate paint color and artist's brush for one area or set of objects at a time, such as rocks or a lighthouse. Fill in the details using similar colors, or mix colors using various shades of gray, black or tan, for instance, for rocks.

Repeat Step 10 for each section or object in the nautical scene until you finish the entire painting. Allow the paint to dry completely.