Painting on a Wall With an Ocean Theme

Paint the entire wall with light blue paint to form a solid background for your artwork. Use a roller instead of a brush for quick, even coverage. Allow your base coat to dry completely before you begin to paint your designs.

Use a roller and medium blue paint to cover the middle section of the wall horizontally. Use a rag or sponge to gently blend the darker paint into the lighter paint above it. Allow this section to dry as well.

Select a midnight blue paint for the bottom section of the wall. Apply it with a roller as well, once again using a sponge or rag to gently blend it into the medium blue paint above it. Allow this paint to dry before proceeding with the remainder of your design. Painting the wall in this way gives the appearance of water that grows gradually darker as you plumb the depths of the ocean.

Dip a sponge into white or cream-colored paint and blot it on a paper towel to remove excess paint. Blot the sponge all over your wall to create a dappled effect that looks like the sun's rays penetrating the deep blue of the ocean.

Use another sponge dipped in a variety of brilliant and pastel colors to create a coral reef at the bottom of your wall. Yellow, salmon, pink, white, blue and purple are just some of the colors of coral. Overlap colors to give the appearance of many colorful varieties of coral growing in one place.

Use paintbrushes and acrylic paint to create a variety of sea creatures floating peacefully in the ocean waves you've created. Paint fish of all colors, shapes and sizes. Add a green octopus and a brightly colored jelly fish, both with their tentacles trailing down as they float among the waves. If your talent extends far enough, paint a mermaid with flowing golden hair and a shiny tail with scales.

Add extra touches like a small shipwreck in the corner so it appears to be at a distance. Paint a larger treasure chest overflowing with gold doubloons and strings of jewels so that it looks as if you could reach out and pluck a bauble from it.