Page 26 - The Decorative Painter Spring 2014

ACRYLIC
PREPARATION
Sand the entire duck. Seal with your favorite sealer, and then sand again. Basecoat the duck with three coats of Sterling Blue+Wicker White+Raw Sienna+Pure Black (6:1:tch:1⁄2 tch), sanding with 800-grit sandpaper be- tween coats.
LET’S PAINT
SKY
With the no. 14 or 16 flat or wash brush, paint the sky with Plaid Folk Art Blending Gel. Dress the same brush with Basecoat and sideload with Medium Light Blue. Turn the surface with tail toward you. Starting at the ho- rizon in the center, quickly move your brush back and forth, working toward the upper sky. Let the color fade before you reach the top of the sky. Repeat this two or three times, letting the paint dry between coats, and ap- plying Plaid Folk Art Blending Gel each time before you start. Using Plaid Folk Art Blending Gel and sideloaded Medium Light Blue+tch Light Blue, paint the middle of the sky a little lighter (see page 23).
CLOUDS
Freehand or lightly transfer the cloud outlines. Ap- ply Plaid Folk Art Blending Gel to the clouds. Paint fluffy clouds using a no. 4 flat sideloaded with Medium Light Blue. Pick up a little Light Blue with the same brush and go over the clouds a little lighter. Repeat if needed. Pick up a little Wicker White on the corner of the brush and tap the front cloud to make it a little brighter.
Shade the shoreline with the no. 8 flat and Medium Dark Blue. Sideload the same brush with Medium Blue
and paint the surface of the water here and there. Sideload the no. 4 flat with Medium Light Blue and paint the water here and there to give it some reflection of the sky. Darken the shoreline at the darkest point with the no. 4 flat side- loaded with Dark Blue.
DISTANT TREES
Transfer the design for the horizon and the outlines of the main buildings. Apply Plaid FolkArt Blending Gel. Paint some distant trees using the no. 6 flat side- loaded with Medium Blue, with the paint edge pointing up and using an irregular, zigzag motion. Add darker color at the bottom of the trees here and there with the same brush sideloaded with a bit of Dark Blue. Add thin lines to indicate tree trunks with thinned Medium Blue+Medium Dark Blue.
WINDMILL AND MAIN BUILDING
Paint the shape of the building with the no. 8 flat sideloaded with Medium Blue+tch Medium Light Blue, working from the light side to about halfway across, and walking your brush toward the dark side. Repeat. Do the same with Medium Light Blue+Light Blue, but don’t paint as wide across as the first color. Paint the dark side the same way with Medium Blue+Medium Dark Blue. Add a shade to the darker side with a little Dark Blue, again not painting as wide as the previous color (see page 23).
With a small scruffy brush and Patina, dry-brush on the light side of the windmill about halfway across. Repeat two or three times, letting the paint dry between applications. Pick up Light Blue with the clean brush and dry-brush the small area where it is the lightest. Shade
the dark side with sideloaded Dark Blue, keeping the application narrow. Dry-brush a final shine on the light side of the windmill and the light side of the main building’s roof with a bit of Wicker White.
Draw the windmill using the no. 10/0 liner and thinned Medium Blue. Draw with short strokes rath- er than one continuous line. Add light and dark lines with lighter and shorter lines on the windmill blades. Finish with a few Wicker White lines on the light side of the windmill. Define the buildings and rooflines with the liner brush using thinned lighter and darker lines.
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24 The Decorative Painter • ISSUE NO. 1, 2014