Page 50 - The Decorative Painter Fall 2014

ACRYLIC
LET’S PAINT
BASECOAT
Some of the basecoat color is opaque and some trans- parent; please note this as you apply the basecoat. When basecoating transparently, the paint can be thinned with water or Jo Sonja’s Retarder Medium. Retarder medium will take a long time to dry. For this reason, I use water to speed up the process whenever possible. I can usually get away with this in the smaller areas. Large areas require retarder to get smooth coverage. I use a hair dryer to assist drying when I use Jo Sonja’s Retarder Medium. Make sure to pull your basecoats over the edge of the plate, so that color does not stop at the top edge.
Basecoat the background behind the gingerbread with opaque Teal Green. When dry, moisten the background with Jo Sonja’s Retarder Medium. Using the no. 6 filbert with Medium Green Mix, slip-slap a highlight, working from the center and blending toward the outer edge. Pick up a little Moss Green in your dirty brush to brighten the highlight. Use a mop brush to soften.
Basecoat eyes, collar, and cuffs with transparent Tita- nium White. I used Jo Sonja’s Retarder Medium to thin the paint when painting the collar and the eyes.
Undercoat the dress, peppermint, and nose with trans- parent Titanium White. I thinned the paint with water be- cause this undercoat doesn’t need to be smooth. Basecoat the dress and nose with opaque Napthol Crimson+Medium Brown Mix (4:1) for the first coat to help with coverage. Follow with a second coat of Napthol Crimson.
Basecoat the apron with transparent Titanium White. In order to get a smooth, transparent coat, moisten the area with a thin coat of Jo Sonja’s Retarder Medium, then brush a thin layer of paint thinned with Jo Sonja’s Retarder Medium over the moist area. Use a mop brush to soften any uneven areas.
Basecoat the hair and the iris in the eye with Brown Earth. Thin the paint with Jo Sonja’s Retarder Medium to keep transparent. Basecoat the peppermint with opaque Titanium White. Basecoat the apron belt with opaque Teal Green. Basecoat the “ginger babies” using opaque Medium Brown Mix.
FACE, HEAD, AND BODY
Using the no. 10/0 liner, outline the iris of the eye with Brown Earth. Line the remaining eye, facial features, and body with Burnt Umber. Using the no. 8 flat, create the pupil with a C-stroke of Burnt Umber+Carbon Black. Shade un- der the eyelid with a float of Burnt Umber. Apply Jo Sonja’s
Retarder Medium to the entire surface of the face. Using the largest flat brush you feel comfortable with, shade the entire face and gingerbread body with a float of Brown Earth. Use a mop brush to soften.
Using the no. 8 flat, highlight the face and hair with a float of Raw Sienna+Titanium White. To paint the cheeks, first brush a thin layer of Jo Sonja’s Retarder Medium over the entire area. Using the no. 12 flat, float the cheeks with Napthol Crimson+tch Medium Brown Mix. Blend the cheeks with a mop brush. When the cheeks are dry, use the no. 8 flat to moisten the area with Jo Sonja’s Clear Glaze Medium. With the Clear Glaze Medium still in the brush, float again with Napthol Crimson to glaze.
Using the no. 10/0 liner, highlight the eye, cheek, and nose with Titanium White. Using the largest flat brush you feel comfortable using, float a second shade with Burnt Umber in the hair, inside the mouth, and in the darkest areas of the body. Using the no. 6 filbert, dry- brush a highlight on the hands and legs with Raw Sienna+tch Titanium White. Pick up a little more Tita- nium White for a second highlight.
CLOTHING DETAILS
COLLAR: Using the no. 10/0 liner, add the detail lines on the collar with Teal Green. Using the no. 12 flat, shade with a float of Storm Blue and highlight with a dry-brush of Ti- tanium White. Finish with an outline of Burnt Umber. DRESS: Using the no. 12 flat, shade the dress with floats of Storm Blue. Using the no. 8 filbert, dry-brush a highlight on the sleeve and at the bottom of the dress with Raw Si- enna. With the no. 10/0 liner, add rickrack at the bottom of the dress and on the cuff with Titanium White and line with Burnt Umber.
APROn: Using the no. 12 filbert, dry-brush the apron with Titanium White. Using the no. 12 flat, shade with a float of Storm Blue. Add the rickrack at the top of the apron using the no. 10/0 liner with Teal Green. Basecoat the buttons with Napthol Crimson. Line and dot the holes with Burnt Umber. Using the no. 8 flat, highlight the buttons with a float and line the threads with Titanium White. Using the no. 10/0 liner, stroke the base for the leaves with Teal Green and over-stroke with Medium Green Mix and Moss Green. Add the stitching using the no. 10/0 liner with Teal Green and highlight with Moss Green. Using the no. 4 filbert, dry- brush the highlights on the belt with Medium Green Mix. Pick up Moss Green in the dirty brush to lighten. Using the no. 12 flat, shade with a float of Storm Blue. Line the belt and the apron with Burnt Umber.
48 The Decorative Painter • ISSUE NO. 3, 2014
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