Simple Beach and Desert Tutorial

Beach Diorama

You will need:

• (For the frame) 2″x 2″ lumber, OR 2″ diameter PVC pipe, in 3′ and 4′ lengths.
• If using PVC pipe (as I did) don’t forget the 90-degree elbow joints for the corners
• a blue plastic tablecloth
• play sand
• a backdrop (I used a sky blue plastic tablecloth)
• acrylic paint to tint the water (I used cheap earth-tone artist acrylics in tubes)

And because I was too excited to play and forgot to take an in-progress photo, here’s a handy illustration:

I lined the completed frame with the blue plastic sheet, then weighed the sheet down with a few rocks on the corners, especially on the inside corners of the frame.

When that was done, I made a pile of sand in one corner of the completed mini-pool.

With the garden hose nozzle on its “mist” setting I wet the sand down, smoothing it out and spreading it around. Once I was happy with it, I filled my new mini-pool set all the way up, tinting the water with sand-colored acrylic paint.

I mounted a sky-colored backdrop behind it, then I was ready to go!

Here are a couple of preliminary photos, taken with my phone camera.

I made the waves by agitating the water with a stick, but you could also use an electric fan to blow constant ripples across the water surface.

Cleanup was simple too, if a bit time-consuming – I drained the water and left the sand on the plastic sheet to dry in the sun, then scooped it back into the bag.

So, anyway, without further ado, here are finished pics of the setup.

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That’s all for today; I hope this double tutorial feature was informative, and I’m certain some of you will find these techniques useful.

Thanks for reading, and good luck with your own dioramas!

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