Page 61 - The Decorative Painter Winter 2017

THE ORCHID
PRUDY VANNIER cda
I love painting orchids as each orchid is an individual, and each petal is different from the rest. This piece was part of an exhibit in the Grand Rap- ids ArtPrize. The project was organized by the West Michigan Decorative Artists to promote SDP and learning to paint. After the show, the pieces were donated as part of the Memory Box program. See more about this venture in the Show & Tell section on page 11.
PREPARATION
STEP 1: Mix Black Forest Green+Wedgewood Blue to make deep teal. Have a puddle of this on your palette with Warm White.
STEP 2: Starting with the lid, use the no. 20 flat brush to paint the edge and about half of the top. With your dirty brush, pick up a little Warm White to blend into the teal color as you paint. Add more Warm White as you work. The top should be a gradual change from deep teal on the left to a lighter shade of teal on the right, blended between so that the change is gradual.
STEP 3: Paint the edges and inside in the same manner.
STEP 4: The bottom is painted this way, too, going from the deepest teal around the bottom edge and working to lighter teal around the top.
STEP 5: Paint the inside of the lid with Desert Cactus.
STEP 6: Use the lettering brush with thinned Warm White to stripe the top of the lid around the edge.
STEP 7: Transfer the orchid and leaf pattern onto the top. The smaller orchid pattern is transferred on the bottom four times, evenly spaced. Fill the spaces between the orchids with leaf patterns.
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ACRYLIC