Page 21 - TheDecorativePainter_DP4_Winter_2018

Certification Corner
GETTING STARTED
by Marian Jackson mda Certification Committee Chair
Convention is over. Perhaps you attended, studied and photographed the boards, purchased the portfolio for Certification, read the pink sheet of instructions and even reduced the designs and placed them around the house where you can see them often. Now what?
You will likely start studying the various elements of the design. Many use Google to search for similar shaped objects but be aware! Many images have more than one light source, especially if they are professionally photographed. Even with a single light source, don’t just copy what you see. Be sure it matches the light direction you’ve chosen for your painting.
Before you start to think about color, you should fully understand how to create form using values. Study form and value so your objects will have the desired shape and not appear flat and/or lack value. Practice using a left-hand light source as well as a right-hand light source. This forces you to think and not be locked into one light source. Sometimes the light source is used to lead the eye into the painting.
When it’s time to think about color, be sure to repeat colors throughout the painting. After establishing your center of interest (if it’s required) note the colors used within and the proportions used. For example, a lot of yellow. Take a sheet of paper and cover half your painting. Have you used that color well and often? Cover the other half and ask the same question. You can do this on both sides as well as the top and bottom.
While you do not have to recreate a flower petal for petal, if leaf flips are within the line they are part of the leaf structure and may be considered a missing element if not painted. A bug would also be a missing element. If a design element identifies an object — such as the leaves on top of a persimmon, they may not be eliminated and the fruit painted as an apple. If you are unsure, please contact the Chair for clarification.
The SDP website has numerous videos and articles to help with your studies. If you are new to the program, perhaps watch the CDA Still Life and Strokework judging videos to help you understand the judging process. In your portfolio is a copy of the judging criteria. You can use this to ask yourself questions to evaluate your own board.
There are videos on cast shadows, correcting strokes in acrylics, acrylic techniques, balancing color and leafing. “What not to do” videos are very interesting. Five years of Ezine articles with photos of passing boards with short commentaries to study are at your fingertips.
OLE BLUE EYES (SANTA)
Product #1819-Acrylics
(Price $8.00 for paper packet; $6.00 for E-packet)
Wooden ornament available from Bear With Us, Inc. The pattern packet includes Santa face worksheet, pictures, painting supplies, line drawings, and general painting instructions for acrylics.
Dorothy Whisenhunt, CDA
Email: DWhiz@DWhizDesigns.com Phone: (325) 695-1549
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