Page 82 - The Decorative Painter Spring 2015

ACRYLIC
MOON
Transfer the moon design.
To create the moon’s glow, dampen the area around the moon with clean water. Using the no. 12 shader, pit-pat thinned Light French Blue in the damp area. Use the 3⁄4" blending mop to soften. Let dry, then repeat to brighten (if necessary).
Basecoat the moon with two sheer coats of Snow White, using the no. 8 filbert. Allow some of the background Deep Midnight Blue to show through to create natural shades.
BACKGROUND TREES
Transfer the design for the background tree line.
STEP 1: Dampen the silk sponges and squeeze excess wa- ter out. Pick up Fawn in the bottom half of the sponge and Snow White in the top half. Pounce the sponge on the pal- ette to blend the colors.
Tap the background trees in along the horizon, work- ing up from the horizon line. Don’t make the trees too uni- form; vary the size and shapes. Remember that these trees are off in the distance, and so they should appear hazy. STEP 2: Apply a bit of snow across the tops of the trees by lightly sponging on Snow White.
STEP 3: Using the no. 5/0 liner with thinned Dark Choco- late, work from the bottom up to sparingly pull trunks and branches in the trees. Don’t pull too many, since the trees are in the distance.
With Grey Sky on the 3⁄4" glaze wash, paint over any misplaced paint from sponging the trees.
BACKGROUND HORIZON PINES
These are the light-colored pine trees on the horizon line. The light color gives the appearance that they are in the distance.
For each pine, use a pencil and the graph ruler to lightly create a centerline that extends vertically from the top cen- ter to the bottom center of the pine. With clean water, slight- ly dampen the surface where the background pines will be created. The dampened surface will allow the pines to softly bleed, giving the illusion that they are in the distance.
Load the chisel edge of the no. 10 filbert with Snow White+Blue Haze Light. Place the chisel edge on the canvas and vertically pull the tops of the pines. Still on the chisel edge but now moving horizontally, tap in the boughs from left to right, slowly and slightly widening as you work to- ward the base of the pine. Allow a bit of the background paint to show through and between the boughs, ensuring that the pine does not turn into a solid triangle.
FOREGROUND HORIZON PINES
Create these pine trees according to the instructions for Background Horizon Pines, except use Black Green. Remember to dampen the areas on which the trees will be created before you paint. When done, let the trees dry.
With Snow White on the no. 10 filbert, randomly tap snow onto the boughs. Refer to the photo of the finished piece.
SNOW HILLS
Transfer the lines for the remaining snow hills.
Corner-load the 5⁄8" angular with Deep Midnight Blue and float a wide shade where the bottom of each snow hill lies behind the top of the next hill. Soften this with the 3⁄4" blending mop.
Corner-load the 5⁄8" angular with Snow White. Float and walk out a wide shade along the top of each snow hill, and then soften. Let dry, then transfer the structures to the surface.
Drag the stylus along the ruler’s edge to transfer straight lines.
Corner-load the 5⁄8" angular with Deep Midnight Blue. Widen the shade floating above and around where the background shrubs, pines, and structures will be. Mop to soften.
PINE TREES
These refer to the slightly larger pine trees that sit along the hill line. The small pines that sit in the middle of some of the snow hills will be added later. Create the large pines according to the instructions for Background Horizon Pines, except use Black Green on the no. 8 filbert. Ran- domly add snow to the boughs with Snow White. Paint the eight large pines near the bottom of the painting (notice that one is on the right edge of the canvas) with the no. 10 filbert.
SHRUBS
To use the Texture Brushes, dampen the bristles with water to help separate the bristles. Holding the brush per- pendicular to the palette, tap bristles into the paint on the palette. Pounce it up and down to remove some of the paint, keeping the paint sparse on the brush. This brush can be used on both the edge or tip.
Tap lightly on the painting surface, dancing the brush up and down and rolling it back and forth between your fingers when it is lifted off the surface (like dancing the twist, light on your feet). Let the paint dry and set up a bit in between dances. This will keep it from becoming globby and muddy looking.
80 The Decorative Painter • ISSUE NO. 1, 2015
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