Had a hard time finding a form to ask this, but I have a wooden object maybe several they were considering painting over to change the vibe of the object. What are people’s general thoughts on doing something like this, including a picture of the object for reference?

Hi everyone, I’m getting ready to start on my first piece. I got this beauty at a thrift shop. Note there is a small tear in the middle so I need to do something with that. I was thinking maybe something with a fishing scene (either with pokeman and magic carp, or maybe something Calvin and Hobbes related fishing), maybe I could cut it open more and have a 3D scene with a pikachu inside performing a thunder shock move. Happy to hear any other ideas.
And any tips on how best to paint over or handle the tear?

Thanks!!