Page 44 - The Decorative Painter Winter 2015

ACRYLIC
LET’S PAINT
Note that we will be working in transparent layers, un- less specified, through this design.
WET-ON-WET METHOD
To start, brush Jo Sonja’s Retarder Medium over the entire inset of the plate. Mop off the extra with your 1" Maxine’s mop brush. This brush works very well and leaves just the right amount of retarder to work with. An alternative method would be to wipe off the extra retard- er with a soft paper towel.
I have indicated stopping points in the instruction for this piece. It is not possible for me to determine how quickly your surface will dry. If your surface dries before the instruction indicates – stop. Let it dry completely and retard the surface to begin painting again.
Thin the paint with retarder for basecoating and load retarder in the brush instead of water for floating, blot- ting on a paper towel to remove the excess medium. This method will give you smooth transparent layers and plenty of open time to blend. Use a mop brush to soften any time needed.
Clean up areas of the design that get ac- cidental color in them as you are working transparently. Spill- over might not be hid- den by the follow-
ing layers.
SUNRISE AND BARN
Start this piece using the wet-on-wet method, float- ing the sunrise and basing the sun with Medium Yellow Mix. Next, basecoat the mountains with Provincial Beige. Basecoat the barn with Medium Red Mix. Basecoat the silo roof with Carbon Black. Basecoat the tree with Medium Green Mix. Basecoat the tree trunk with Raw Umber.
With a no. 12 filbert side loaded in Medium Green Mix, float the pasture along the fence line, here and there as you come forward in the design. Mop to soften. Dry the surface.
ROOSTER
While the surface is dry, line the eye and dot the pupil with Carbon Black. Using Medium Red Mix, again wet- on-wet, basecoat the comb, tongue and waddle. Float the cheek with Medium Red Mix, using your mini mop brush to soften (if needed). Basecoat the beak with Medium Yel- low Mix. Shade the hills with Dark Beige Mix. Basecoat the rooster’s body with Purple Mix. When basecoating the body, use a no. 6 filbert and dab to create texture. Using Dark Beige Mix, float to shade the head and neck feathers. The highlight behind the pupil is Warm White. Basecoat the legs with Medium Yellow Mix. Float the path with Raw Umber. Dry the surface.
Remoisten the surface. Stroke the tail and saddle feathers, starting with the feathers that are farthest back and working forward in the design. Wipe out overlap as you go. The feathers are: Medium Green Mix, Medium Red Mix, Orange Mix, Purple Mix and Sea Swirl. Shade the comb, waddle and tongue with a float of Dark Red Mix. Using Dark Beige Mix, strengthen the shade on the head, neck feathers and the wing feathers. Dry the sur- face. While the surface is dry, line the feathers on the head, neck and wing Dark Beige Mix to Raw Umber. Add
the linework in the darkest areas using Dark Purple Mix. Moisten the surface. Shade the head, comb and wad- dle, body, and wing in the darkest areas with Dark Pur- ple Mix. Highlight the comb and waddle with Orange Mix. Shade the beak, legs and feet with Raw Umber. Shade the tail and saddle feathers: green feathers in Dark Green Mix, red feathers in Dark Red Mix, or- ange feathers in Dark Orange Mix, and blue feathers
in Dark Blue Mix. Dry completely.
Add the linework on the feathers. For the
green feathers, use Dark Green Mix+Medium Red Mix (3:1); for the blue feathers, use Dark Blue Mix+Ultramarine Blue Deep (1:1); for the red
feathers, use Dark Red Mix+Dark Purple Mix (1:1);
42 The Decorative Painter
• ISSUE NO. 4, 2015
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