Page 73 - The Decorative Painter Winter 2015

ACRYLIC
STEP-BY-STEP
SPRUCE LIMBS
STEP 1
STEP 2
STEP 3
NEST WITH EGGS STEP 1
STEP 4
LET’S PAINT
Plantation Pine, and start at the top of the limbs to strike in the needles, making them bushier as you get to the tips. To make it bushy, you need contrast, so use a good mix of both colors.
PATTERN 2
You will find the second pattern overlaps the first and helps to give depth to the painting. Now, double load your no. 3/0 liner with Driftwood+Burnt Umber. These are brighter than the first limbs and makes the second limbs look closer. Put some spontaneous tiny dots of Driftwood+Burnt Umber along each limb. Refer to step two of the Step-by-Steps on page 71.
Next, add the needles using your no. 3/0 liner dou- ble loaded with Hauser Medium Green and Celery Green+Hauser Light Green. These needles are lighter and
SPRUCE LIMBS
Now that the top is ready, trace on the spruce limbs, which will be done in two stages. Therefore, I use two pat- terns: the background pattern and the front prominent pat- terns. Note that there are no needles on patterns, as they are freehanded. Refer to Step-by-Step on page 71 as a guide.
PATTERN 1
Loading your no. 3/0 liner with Driftwood (highlight) and the other side with Burnt Umber (shaded side) stroke in the limbs. Keep the lighter side up and leaning to the limbs being darker. Refer to step one of the Step-by-Step on page 71.
In pattern one, the needles are more muted. So, double load your no. 3/0 liner with Hauser Medium Green and
DECORATIVEPAINTERS.ORG
The Decorative Painter • ISSUE NO. 4, 2015 71
STEP 2
STEP 3