"I've thought about painting them a solid color and then draw pictures on them."

yes you can do that....and whatever you think you'd like to try....there are absolutely no limits....you won't know if you don't try!
The more you follow your own instincts, the more original your art will be. There's no right or wrong way to paint a gourd. But, I hope you'll share some photos when you have a finished product! We'd love to see what you come up with!

Jan

If you get a hold of me I can show you some of the things that I have done with gourds.
Penny

Thanks for your replies on painting the gourd birdhouses. I am excited about this project and appreciate you answering. I think this forum is really great and I enjoy reading what different ones have to say about growing gourds.

I saw some really pretty ones that had been decorated using a wood burning toolto burn the design into the gourd and then wood stain to tint it...they looked like wooden gourds when finished.

Hi Merle,

I happened across this website of an artist who paints gourds. It fascinated me so that I came back to GW to see if anyone could ID this type of gourd. You really need to check this out. It has the directions and many good ideas. I found it very inspiring. I'm just wondering if anyone can identify the very thick gourds shown here.

I think you'll be turned out, too! I'd love to hear back from you about this.

Xtal

Here is a link that might be useful: Color Pencil Challenge

Oh! WOW! what beautiful and facinating work!!
Thanks for sharing that site with us. The gourd appears to be a large bottle of some sort, or, maybe a bottle/kettle/zucca cross. I love the endless possibilities of gourd cross pollination.

Welcome to the forum.
Jan

I checked out the Color Pencil site also. It is really great. I wonder if the pencils at Wal-mart in the craft dept would be all right to use. I ventured out last night and painted some flowers on a gourd. I really want to do this with the gourds. I have thought about the woodburning also. But I will have to crawl before I can walk. My husband, Merle, said to go slow, one thing at a time. I was up at 4 o'clock thinking of these gourds. Have a great day!!

Judy Rose