Page 51 - The Decorative Painter Spring 2014

sKiLLBuiLDER
LOADING THE LINER
Thinner paint is required when using the liner. Dip the brush tip into extender and brush-mix it with the color as you load the complete length of the brush. Make a sharp point by scraping the paint off the tip along the sharp edge of your palette. This method of loading will produce many ultrafine lines as the diluted color feeds down to the point of the brush.
HOLDING THE BRUSH
Position your fingers on the ferrule as loosely as possible. Point the handle up
to the ceiling. It is tempting to hold it off to one side, but this won’t allow the brush tip to pull through the middle, resulting in a deformed stroke. Rest the forearm but lift the wrist off the surface. Use your pinky finger for support or put the other hand under the wrist, like a bridge. Sometimes we have a death grip on the brush, which prevents it from opening. If this happens, try clenching the other hand as you pull the stroke.
THE “PERFECTLY TIPPED STROKE”
The tipping color is pure at the beginning of the stroke. As you apply pressure, the brush tip opens as it “rakes” the tipping color through the stroke. This produces the soft streaks. In the middle third of the stroke, the streaks become a middle value as the tip- ping color blends with the loading color. The hue will be closer to the loading color by the end of the stroke, but note that there is still tipping color on the brush. Wipe off the residual tipping color onto dry soft paper towel. Reload, as described above, for the next stroke. No need to wash the brush until you change colors.
REFINING THE STROKE
Not all strokes turn out exactly as we would like. Remember that you can go over any stroke a second time, once it is dry. Background color can re- shape a stroke. Also, you can fix or refine the stroke and the values within
it with the liner as follows:
• When the stroke is completely dry, refine any coarse streaks in the
middle with fine lines using a brush-mix of the two hues.
• If the tipping color did not carry far enough into the stroke or is uneven,
pull lines of tipping color in that area.
• If required, pull fine lines of loading color in from where the stroke finished.
• Ideally, we need three values in the stroke to create form. In the refining process,
ensure that the values gradually weave together to create the same soft, streaky effect as would happen in a “perfect” stroke.
PRESSURE STROKE
This is the ideal stroke to begin the learning process. It teaches you how to press down to open the brush and release pressure as you pull to taper the shape. Determine the easiest direction for you to pull the stroke—toward you, away from you, or from side-to-side.
We often use a number of strokes to create a shape, such as for the leaves in this project. Always allow one stroke to dry before pulling in the adjacent stroke. This prevents a ridge of paint from forming between the strokes.
DEcOrAtIvEPAINtErS.OrG