ELEGANCE OF MAGNOLIAS

Magnolias are such elegant flowers... Their size, the creamy colors, the wonderful leaves which may be a whole range of warm greens and cool, and - don’t forget the fabulous rusty ones! How beautifully they unify with the sienna stems and branches. Let’s face it, it’s hard to find anything not to like about this marvelous tree.

I find that painting inside a tray bottom or a bowl is awkward. It forces me to hold my brush at a more vertical angle, one that makes it more difficult to apply the exact thickness of paint and blend it just to please me. Yet, I wanted so much to use this wonderful new galvanized tin tray from Painter’s Paradise. My personal solution is to cut a surface exactly the size of the tray bottom, prep it as desired, and do my painting on that. In addition, I then have the option of dropping in a Plexiglas oval on top of the finished piece for protection.

SURFACE: I cut a firm poster board piece exactly to fit the tray, which is a size 14.5” x 9.75”. An 11” x 14” rectangular hardboard panel, canvas or a wood piece of a similar size could be substituted if you’d rather frame your work. BACKGROUND PREPARATION: Base painting surface with Ceramcoat Bridgeport Grey. Roll smoothly, and allow to dry. Sand with #220 wet/dry sandpaper. Recoat with same color, and again, let dry. Sand again. Spray with Krylon Matte Finish, # 1311.

TIPS FOR WET-ON-WET ACRYLIC BACKGROUNDS: Remove lids of new bottles of acrylic and fill to bottom of neck with water. Replace lid and shake well. This will reconstitute paint to original consistency. Add enough water to bring partially used bottles to the same consistency.

TRANSFERRING THE DESIGN: Use the inked design to transfer to the painting surface. You will want to use dark graphite for this background. Lay graphite paper over the prepared painting surface. Place inked design on top of graphite. Lay a piece of tracing paper on top of design to protect original during transfer. Tape stack into position. Transfer design completely and carefully, such as all floral detail, and precise shape of container. Check during process to make sure design is coming off on surface clearly. If too faint, change to a newer piece of graphite. Use artist’s graphite for oils, not the papers created for acrylics that are water soluble.

PALETTE: Winsor & Newton Artist’s Oils: Ivory Black (B), Titanium White (W), Raw Sienna (RS), Raw Umber (RU), Burnt Sienna (BS), Sap Green (SG), Cadmium Yellow Pale (CYP), and French Ultramarine (FUB.

BRUSHES: Sherry C. Nelson Series 303, # 2, 4, 6, 8. Series 312, # 0 round.

USING A DRIER: Cobalt Siccative, a drying agent, may be added in fractions of a drop, to each patty of oil paint on your palette to speed drying time. I use it EVERY time I paint. If color does not remain workable on the palette for at least 8 hours, you are simply using too much. Dip palette knife into drier, bleed off excess against side of bottle, then touch knife tip NEXT to each patty of paint. If too much comes off knife, do not mix entire amount into paint. Mix each tiny ‘freckle’ into paint patty using clean palette knife. Drying time is 6 hours to overnight, depending on particular pigment and relative humidity.

UNDERSTANDING THE PAINTING PROCESS: The painted step-by-step photos are to be used as a guide along with the written instructions. Read the written instructions carefully, then work in the sequence given, referring to the multiple step sequence shown in the photos to determine actual color placement, amount of blending to be done and so forth. Instructions are written in the sequence in which I painted the piece; work in that order and finish each element before going on to another. The initial step for each element shows how the basecoat areas should appear, while later steps normally indicate the first blends, as well as application of additional darks and lights. The final steps usually include the finished painting, as well as steps leading up to it.

BRUSH LOADING AND BLENDING BASICS: Color should be loaded onto the “Bright” brush from a loading zone, a strip of sparse paint pulled from a patty of paint down on the palette. Mixtures are made by moving from one loading zone to another, working back and forth, to achieve a mix of two or more colors. Wipe brush on a paper towel after applying paint to surface, but before beginning to blend. Blend colors WHERE THEY MEET, using a dry brush and short strokes. Don’t blend randomly over the entire area; just blend ON THE LINE where colors come together, creating a new value and hue with the process of blending. To blend overall will cause loss of values & clarity. See colors on page 20.

Image 1. Prepared background, sprayed with Krylon Matte Finish, # 1311 as detailed above. Use the inked design to transfer to the painting surface. Carefully follow instructions as detailed in Transferring the Design above. Note the use of the all-important tracing paper overlay so that you can tell how precisely you are duplicating the pattern and what parts you still haven’t done. When finished, remove all layers of materials from surface. Put dark graphite away, tuck original pattern out of the way and keep the tracing paper overlay sheet handy if needed. Remember - a perfect transfer goes a long way toward a perfect finished painting.

Image 2. The Palette: Colors are listed and laid out with most frequently used colors in the bottom row and those less used in the top row. From the bottom left: Ivory Black (B), Titanium White (W), Raw Sienna (RS), Raw Umber (RU), and Burnt Sienna (BS). Top row, from the left: Sap Green (SG), Cadmium Yellow Pale (CYP) and French Ultramarine (FUB)...

Image 3. Using a #6 brush, base as shown with the following values: Dark/ RU mixed with just a bit of Black, White and RS. After placing dark values, then tip corner of brush in odorless thinner and use it pull out a bit of the dark mix at the edge of the loading zone. Base medium value areas with this slightly thinned mix so that it has a bit of transparency. Light value/ W + RS + B. Check color mixes page for a guide.

Image 4. Wipe brush dry and blend where values meet, leaving a bit of choppy surface texture. Please note: Brush Sizes: Use the smaller brush sizes, #2 and 4 for smaller elements of the design and the #6 for larger areas. Always choose the largest size that is comfortable to achieve the detail necessary. The #6 is appropriate for the basecoat and texturing of larger areas such as the large leaves and container. In addition, I always keep my #8 bright handy; while I don’t often paint with that size, I use it dampened with odorless thinner for cleanup, because I find the larger bristle base gives better pressure for removing any messy paint, or graphite lines around the edges of the design. Once a brush is listed in the instructions, stay with that size until it says to change to a different size.

Image 5. Shade with B + RU. Apply with very dry sparse paint, in horizontal draggy strokes.

Image 6. Roughly blend each color connection on the line where values meet, as shown.

Image 7. Lay highlights on with varying bits of lighter values, using a #2 bright: W, W + a speck of CYP, and W + CYP + RS for a soft beige cast Image 8. Blend just a bit to soften and add a touch more white to strongest highlights if needed.

Image 9. Using the #4, base stems, branch, leaf stems and brown leaves with the following mixes: Dark/ BS + RU, Medium/ BS + RS, Light/ RS + just a bit of BS.

Image 10. Blend a bit on stems and other areas where values meet. Add some highlights with RS + W. Any additional shading may be added with RU.

Image 11. Close up of highlight and shading detail.

Image 15. Finish basing in leaves with these values: Warm light value: SG + RS + W. Cool light value: SG + FUB + W. cool light value mixes + a bit more W added to each. Place slightly lighter highlight on cool light leaf areas with Cool Light mix + a bit more W, same with warm light leaves. Take time to define a few central vein lines now, dark on rusty leaves and light values on green leaves...

Image 12. Close up of highlight and shading detail.

Image 13. Green leaves: Dark/ B + SG + tad of RU. Rusty accent: RS + BS.

Image 14. Close up of leaves.

Image 16. Here’s a distance shot of all base coated leaves for your reference.

Image 17. Now it’s time to establish growth direction and a bit of texture with our blending, which is done following the natural growth direction. Blend where the values meet.

Image 19. Blend new color additions with the natural growth, where values meet. Go easy… you don’t want to overwork the light values or muddy them. Add outlines on a few edges with thinned RS + W mix applied with the #0 round brush. Not too light… keep them subtle. Add a few irregular bits of RU with corner of #2 bright and outline with dirty, thinned W for interesting blemishes.

Image 20. Base the tendrils with a very thin mix of B + RU + SG + a bit of W to grey. Use the #0 round. Success with this requires very thin paint mix, not too heavily loaded on the lower half of the brush.

petals for more warmth. Sign the piece, and allow to dry to the touch, at least overnight (with siccative) or several days (without siccative in the paint).

Image 21. Shade inside curves with B + SG slightly thinned, #0 round. Highlight outside or top of curves with slightly thinned light value mix of SG + RS + W on same brush.

Image 22. Rather sparsely, using a #4 or 6 Bright, depending on petal size, base dark values on petals with either a green or a cool grey as shown: Dark grey/ B + RU + a tad of W. Dark green/ B + SG. When all darks are applied, finish basing petals with Light/ dirty brush + W.

Image 23. Blend where values meet on each petal, beginning to follow natural growth directions with strokes of the brush to establish initial shape and form. Add dark center detail within main flower with BS + RU, and BS + RS, using the #2. Image 24. Add initial clean W highlights using the #4 or 6 brush once again. It looks like paint is rather heavy, but it’s actually applied quite sparingly. White is a heavy, opaque color and you don’t want to get too much too soon.

Image 25. Blend where values meet and then re-highlight with a warmer mix of W + a tad of CYP. Re-blend with growth direction where values meet. At this point, add a few very minimal ‘outlines’ of creamy white to edges of a few petals and flip turns where shown. Use the warmer light mix, thinned with odorless thinner, on the #0 round. Image 27. On a dry surface apply the final white highlights. Use #4 and pure W. With a little B + RU, add shadows under stem and leaves at bottom of surface.

Image 28. Soften shadows added in the previous step. Blend edges horizontally into the surface with edge of cheesecloth. Add narrow B + RU shadows under right edges of leaves where leaves overlap the container. Soften their edges a bit also. Add any details needed to finish up.

Image 26. Now look how the combination of light and warm light is beginning to give us that magnolia glow! Touch on bits of RS accent at base of some

Image 29. If you would like to rouge some warm tones on edges of surface to soften more gradually into the subtle tones of the lattice tray, you can do so now. I make a mix of RS + RU and add a bit of thinner so it will move more easily. Make sparse scrapes on the surface with a flat-bladed palette knife as shown. Image 32. Final Beauty Shot. OPTIONAL:

Image 30. With cheesecloth, blend edges of each flat area of paint into surrounding surface. Push firmly, and work slowly, controlling how much you remove to suit your taste.

Image 31. Voilà!! You’re all done. When the painting surface is totally dry, you are ready to drop it into the tray bottom and cover with a piece of Plexiglas to protect the painting from damage.

Image 33. Original galvanized tin tray.

Image 34. Antiqued with a very thinned mix of RU + RS oil paint, almost watery. Brush on with synthetic 1/2” brush, and then remove excess with cheesecloth. Allow to dry and then spray with Krylon Spray Varnish # 7002.

COLORS

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As you lift the brush and prepare to begin work on your next project, do you wonder what came before? The world of decorative painting is a vast one, honed over the years by many an artist, anxious to share their knowledge with the next. Often referred to as a craft and not an art, there are many who would question its legitimacy in the art world. Perhaps one could mention the work of many great artists, who began by studying and copying the work of their mentors. So, it would seem, the art of the florals which bloom along the historic trail of the past have followed a similar route. In this five-part series, we will take you on a journey throughout those wonderful floral strokes. A world of decorative painting styles that will literally take you from one land to the next, following the ever-flowing beauty of brush worked blooms. From Norwegian rosemaling to the German Baurenmalerei, from Russian Zhostova to Swedish Dala, this floral art form has traveled the world. These adaptations of floral painting will amaze you with their beauty when seen through the eyes of so many diverse peoples.

Be sure to join us when part one of A Look into the Historical Florals of Decorative Painting debuts with the next issue of Painting World Magazine.