Textured Pansy

© Luanne Wykes 10/2001
 

Requirements

Basecoating Brush
Large Bristle Brush
No. 4 Kolinsky Sable Round Brush
10/0 Liner
No.3 Red Sable Round Brush
¼” Dagger Brush
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DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paints:
 Antique White,
 Black Plum,
Blue/Grey Mist,
Marigold,
 Midnite Green,
 Plum,
Warm Neutral.
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DecoArt Decorating Paste
DecoArt Faux Glazing Medium
DecoArt DuraClear Satin Varnish
Masking Tape
Transfer Paper
Stylus
Rubber tipped wipe-out tool
Palette Knife
Wet Palette and Dry/disposable Palette
Film canister or similar air-tight container

Preparation:

Basecoat your chosen surface with Antique White. Tape off top and bottom bands, paint these with Black Plum thinned with a little water. Use a bristle brush and drag the brush across the width of the band leaving drag marks in the paint. This is not critical to the look, just adds a bit of interest. Remove the tape and allow to dry thoroughly.

Apply a tape each side of the Black Plum edges, leaving very narrow bands (about 2mm) uncovered. Apply a thin coat of Faux Glazing Medium over the narrow bands, and allow to dry. This prevents paint bleeding under the tape. Apply Blue/Grey Mist over the narrow bands, remove the tape.

Transfer the pattern, using the transfer paper and stylus.

Blocking-in: Use the No. 4 Kolinsky sable round brush loaded with Blue/Grey Mist to block in all leaves with shape following strokes, and the pansy and buds with Warm Neutral. Paint the stems and calyxes with the liner loaded with Blue/Grey Mist.

First Shading: Using the dagger brush, float shading on the leaves with Midnite Green, and on the flower and buds with Plum. (See pattern for an indication of where the shading should be applied.) Remove all visible tracing lines with a kneadable eraser.

Adding Texture: Scoop out a generous amount of Decorating Paste using your palette knife and place it on your dry/disposable palette. Add a few drops of Faux Glazing Medium at a time, and mix well with the palette knife (using a squashing action rather than stirring to minimise bubbles), until it is a good consistency to work with. If it’s too thick you won’t be able to control placement very well on your work, but if it’s too thin, it will flatten out and not hold shape as it dries. You need to be able to manoeuvre and sculpt the paste, but retain maximum height and shape. When you are happy with the mix, transfer it to a film canister. Take out small amounts at a time to work with, placing it on a wet palette so it won’t thicken too quickly.

Use the No. 3 red sable round brush to apply and sculpt the paste. The sable hairs tend to flatten and hold shape better than synthetic ones. This helps with the sculpting required. Paste work is hard on brushes, so don’t be tempted to use a good sable brush. Taklon bristles are not suitable; they will make very hard work of it for you! A wipeout tool is a desirable accessory. They make clean up around pasted leaves, petals etc. super easy. They are not essential, but make a big difference to the ease of application and tidy up of relief paste.

Prime your red sable brush for applying paste by working a little glaze medium and paste mix into it to stick the bristles together. Flatten the brush by wiping it firmly on your palette. Pick up extra heavy side-loads by pushing the brush into the side of the paste and lifting up vertically, or scooping, rather than pulling through the paste. Place the paste side of the brush to the outside edge of the leaf or petal, and twist the brush towards the paste to get it off the brush and sitting on your work. Wipe the brush of paste residue, flatten the brush on your palette wiping through a little Faux Glazing Medium, then laying the brush down quite flat for minimum pressure; place the flattened side on the brush gently on top of the paste. Smooth leaves diagonally from the tip towards the centre vein or stem, and for the flower all smoothing strokes should flow towards the centre of the flower, for the buds all strokes flow towards the calyx/stem.

Don’t be afraid to pile the paste on. The more you can get on your work in the first layer, the better the end result. Don’t worry about smoothing out all your brush marks, they add interest as long as your direction is correct. Use much less pressure than you normally would, laying the brush down flatter than usual helps with this. The paste can be guided to where you want it, and then sculpted or tidied up if necessary.

Take advantage of peaks, points and others interesting shapes you may unintentionally create on your brush. They can make perfect points on petals and leaves with minimum effort. The paste probably won’t go exactly where you want it the first time, but as long as it is nearly there you can move it around a little, and sculpt it, with a clean flattened damp/glazed brush. If you have trouble with the paste “sticking”, wipe the brush through a little glaze medium to make it more slippery. You can build up the desired amount of texture all in one go, or in several thinner layers. You can add wet paste over the top of wet or dry paste. Wash your brush out frequently.

When first applied the paste is very white and solid looking, not a good look at all! As it dries, it becomes translucent and thinner parts of the paste blend beautifully into the underlying colour. Some shrinkage will occur during drying. After the paste has dried assess if is further build up of certain elements is necessary before final shading is applied. You can apply as many layers of paste as needed to get the desired look.

Colour Washes: Using the dagger brush, reshade the leaves with Midnite Green. Reshade petals with Plum, then when dry strengthen shadows with Black Plum. Use a lot of water to thin the paint to a transparent (wash) consistency.

Using the dagger brush, wash Midnite Green and Black Plum around the outside of the design to add shadows and disguise blocked edges not covered by paste.

Finishing: Load a liner brush with Black Plum and paint the blotches on the front 3 petals, radiating in a fan shape from the centre of the flower.

Load the liner with Marigold and paint a small “beard” at the top of the 5th petal.

Finish by adding a dot of Black Plum to the centre of the flower, and two small beads of paste either side of this dot to connect the 5th petal to the 3rd and 4th petals.

Apply 3-4 coats of varnish, lay you brush down quite flat, and brush in one direction to smooth it out. Don’t brush back and forth vigorously, this causes froth to form. You will get little puddles of varnish forming around textured areas; these are easily spread out with tip of your brush.

Enjoy
Luanne.

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