©2006 EASL Publications / Annette Dozier Please translate the following text and provide us with a price by sending text to translation@easlpublications.com... General Instruction Finishes: DecoArt Americana DAS12 gloss sealer/finisher is what I usually use to varnish my pieces. If the finished project is flat, I will usually, flood the piece and let it sit until it is completely dry (several hours or as much as a day). If you are spray finishing a round object or an upright surface, you must apply several thin coats of spray. Too much spray will cause you to get a run on the surface. Be sure to read the warnings on the label always wear a mask and spray in a well ventilated place. Brush varnish should be applied with a large flat or filbert. I mark my varnishing brush with colored tape so that I do not accidentally pick it up and paint with it. DecoArtÕs indoor/outdoor varnish is recommended. Wood Preparation: Sand the wood piece following the grain of the wood. Remove dust with a damp lint free cloth or damp shop towel. If you are going to be painting with acrylics, do not use a tack cloth. Sometimes the oil in the tack cloth does not allow the acrylic to adhere to the surface. Seal wood with Americana Multi-Purpose Sealer DS14, applied directly to the surface or to your first base coat. Read the instructions on the bottle for further information. Base coat: Spray paints make quick work of base coating and a smooth, even surface without brush strokes. For brush application, my personal choice is a Loew-Cornell lÓ or l 1/2Ó 7550 brush. These are large brushes that can carry a lot of paint and allows you to cover the surface quickly and evenly. The brush you decide to use for base coating should be as large as the surface will allow. Apply lots of paint in a slip-slap stroke. Once the surface is covered, smooth over the paint in one direction. If you are base coating a large item, apply some paint and smooth as you go, so that the paint does not dry before you have a chance to smooth it. DO NOT LEAVE BRUSH STROKES OR RIDGES OF PAINT. Look over the design and read over the instructions before applying the pattern. Many times I like to paint in the background, let that dry, then transfer more of the pattern, paint and let that dry and then transfer the details. By painting in this manner you have fewer ridges in your paintings. Transferring all the details, painting over them and having to transfer more details is time consuming and can be confusing when painting the design. In this book most of the background was completed, then the snowmen outline was transferred, they were stippled in and left to dry and then the hat, scarves, faces, etc were transferred. Blending & Painting Techniques Side load Float: Use as large a brush as the area will allow. It is much easier to float with a large brush than a small one. Dip your brush in water, blot on paper towel until the shine disappears. With the damp brush, slide into the side of the paint puddle loading the side of the brush with paint. Stroke the brush on the palette, creating a loading zone. Continue stroking in the loading zone until the color is well blended, color on one side of the brush and water or painting medium on the other. Do not let the color drift across the entire brush. There should be a gradual gradation of color from paint to water. If your brush is not loaded correctly on the palette it wonÕt be right on the project. Nothing magical happens between the palette and the project......BLEND WELL. Hold the brush as flat to the surface as you can. Do not stand the brush upright. Double Loaded Float: If you have trouble side loading and floating with water, try double loading a flat or angle brush with the shading or highlighting color on one half the brush and the areaÕs base coat color on the other half. Blend well on the palette until you do not see a line between the two colors. Float the color as if you were using water. Usually you will need to thin the base color a little with water. Easy Float Mix Fill a clean 2 oz bottle half way with Easy Float. Fill remaining half of the bottle with water. Use this medium for beautiful line work, lettering, floating color and glazing. In some areas of the country you might try 2/3 water and 1/3 Easy Float. If you find the paint drying too quickly on your wet palette you need to add more Easy Float. This mix allows the paint a little bit more open time to make blending easier. Use a small mop brush and stipple up and down where the float ends to help blend into the background. It does not thin the color so much that line work becomes too transparent. To glaze with the mix, apply a little of the Easy Float Mix to the area to be glazed, be sure to use a clean brush. With another brush pick up the color you are going to use to glaze and apply it to the wet surface. A mop brush used as a stippler will help to smooth the glazing color and blend the color into the background. Sponging: Use a round synthetic sponge. Load 1/3 of the rounded side of the sponge with color; tap the sponge on the palette to disperse the paint. Tap any excess paint on a paper towel. On the surface, tap, up and down with the sponge, using light pressure. As you use up the paint you can tap a little harder. Wash of Color: Sometimes called glazing, this means to apply a thin transparent layer of paint. Use a large brush filled with water or glazing medium and a tiny amount of paint; mix on your palette to create a puddle of thin paint. Load the brush with this thin paint, blot on a paper towel and apply an overall wash of color or side load in the puddle for a transparent float of color. Line Work: When outlining or painting fine lines use a liner brush with medium to long bristles. Thin the paint with water, or my choice, Easy Float Mix, until the paint is of an inky consistency. Hold the brush straight up and down so the paint flows from the brush. If your lines of paint skip or drag, thin the paint. It must be thin enough that gravity just pulls the paint from the brush. Spatter: Dip the bristles of an old toothbrush into thinned paint, pointing the bristles down towards the project. Run your finger over the bristles, letting the paint spatter off onto the surface. A bristle fan brush is my favorite tool for spattering (donÕt like to get paint all over my fingers). Load the fan brush with thinned paint, run the bristles over the edge of a palette knife and direct the paint spatters with the brush. HINT: Practice on a piece of paper towel to be sure the paint is the right consistency to get the size of spattering you desire. You might want to apply one coat of water base varnish or lightly spray with sealer/varnish before you spatter. This will allow you to wipe off the spattering should you not like your results. Dry Brushing: Load a 5005 brush with paint; remove some of the paint onto a paper towel, until you think there is hardly any paint left in the brush. You can then scrub or dust on an accent color, highlight, cheek color or tints. Christmas Trees: You can purchase the trees at most any hobby and craft store. For the projects in this book I used 24Ó trees. Look for trees that are wrapped in burlap or some type of fabric as these usually have a wood base. Some trees will have a resin base. If the base is too large for the box, the base can be made smaller by cutting the edges with a band saw (just donÕt tell you husband you used his). You do not need to base the interior area of the box except about 2Ó down from the top. Leave the inside bottom of the box unpainted so the glue will have better adhesion with the surface. Paint the design, varnish the box and then you can glue the tree into the box. I usually use a power nailer and shoot a few nails up from the bottom of the box into the tree base. Add a piece of felt or felt pads on the bottom of the box to protect the area where the tree will be sitting. Trim the tree with hand painted items or any of the many lovely ornaments that you find at your local craft store. Notice: if applying lights (35 count) be sure that the extra bulbs and the warning papers that come with the lights are attached to the end of the wire near the plug-in. This is very important if you are giving the trees as a gift or selling them at a craft show or boutique. Lettering: On the sides of the Christmas tree boxes I lettered some little sayings. When lettering, I transfer only one line through the center of the pattern with chalk or chalk pencil. A #4 or #6 7350 liner is my favorite brush to paint stroke work letters. This series of liner brushes can be flattened when loading with paint and will retain this flat tip looking much like a tiny flat brush. Many times I get asked Ņwhy not just use a #0 or #2 flatÕ. The liner holds more paint and performs better when painting narrow letters. Large letters are usually painted with a flat brush. How you hold the brush is very important as is the consistency of the paint. Thin the paint with a little water or Easy Float Mix, loading the brush to the ferule and flattening the brush point to a chisel edge instead of a point. Hold the chisel of the brush at a 45 degree angle to the surface. Add pressure to the brush for the thicker down strokes of each letter and release pressure, sliding up on the chisel for connecting lines, starting and ending lines. You break up each letter into small strokes. Do not try to paint the entire letter or number with one stroke. There are many good lettering books on the market and I suggest you invest in a couple. Since I did a lot of production painting for the gift market, I have my own way of painting fast lettering that is not as pretty or correct as what you will find in lettering books. Even if you canÕt write well with a pencil or pen you can learn to paint nice stroke lettering. Before you start to letter, practice on tracing paper; get comfortable with holding the brush at the same angle all the time and complete each stroke without hesitation. Use a t-square or graph ruler to mark off straight lines so your letters do not go up or down hill. Train your eye to see the distance between the letters. You do not want some letters almost touching and others with lots of space between. Many projects have been painted beautifully only to have them ruined with sloppy looking lettering. PRACTICE...PRACTICE.....PRACTICE. Loew-Cornell has a product called Brush - Up Paper which is wonderful for practicing lettering and strokes. You just need your brush and water. It is reuseable. - Times Remembered. . . Mommy & Me Tea Party - Young or old tea parties are so much fun. My granddaughter, Katie, had a wonderful 5th birthday party designed around the theme of a tea party. The children and adults came with boas around their necks. Decorated hats on their heads (mine looked somewhat like the one on the snowlady in this picture). Many had creative costumes, including one little girl that came in her native Korean dress. Grandma made the cake to look like a teapot. Everyone had a great time that day and we were left with wonderful memories. DecoArt Americana Paints Winter Blue French Grey Blue Deep Midnight Blue Honey Brown Raw Sienna Dark Chocolate Sable Pineapple Moon Yellow Pansy Lavender Deep Burgundy Santa Red Black Plum Royal Fuchsia Cadmium Orange Evergreen Black Green Hauser Medium Green EmperorÕs Gold Grey Sky Slate Grey Black White Light Buttermilk Materials Needed Canvas Gel Tea Box Variety of 7350 Lowe-Cornell liners S8037 angle foliage #6 filbert #10 Flat or shader Old scruffy brushes for stippling Measure 2 1/2Ó from the top of the box and draw a horizon line. Use a T-square or graphic ruler to be sure the horizon line is straight. You can apply a piece of Scotch Brand tape, green label, below the line and then paint the measured area Black Green. Remove the tape and paint the bottom 2/3 of the box with French Grey Blue. One coat of paint should be enough coverage. Do not add water to the brush when base coating. Use plenty of paint and smooth the paint as you apply it. Sand lightly. Background Use an old scruffy or a stippler brush to paint the background foliage. Remember to allow a lot of the dark base coat to show between the foliage. Begin the foliage by stippling with Evergreen, then add Hauser Medium Green to the dirty brush and stipple a little lighter foliage. The light source is coming from the upper right, so the foliage closest to the light source will be the brightest. Add the final highlights with Winter Blue + Hauser Medium Green. Trees Base the tree trunks Dark Chocolate + Black Green + Winter Blue. Shade the left side of the trees with Dark Chocolate + Black Green. Highlight the right side of the trunks with Dirty brush + Winter Blue. A touch of Cadmium Orange + Light Buttermilk may be added for the brighter highlights. Add a little Winter Blue to the top of the limbs for snow. This should be applied with a liner and just a hit and miss application of paint. The remaining tree trunks are painted as the background trees. Just keep in mind that as you move forward in the painting the items become darker and richer in color. You will want to eliminate the Winter Blue from the base coat as you progress forward in the painting. The tree on the left and the one on the right were painted with a #4 filbert brush. Load the brush with Evergreen and begin the pine needles. Let the dark background show between the branches. Load the brush with Evergreen + Hauser Medium Green on one side only. Turn the brush so the paint is on the top of the brush. Use just the tip of the brush to tap on the highlights. Begin the snow with French Grey Blue + Winter Blue. This can be applied all over the trees. Add lighter snow on top of the previous application, concentrating the lighter snow on the right and letting a little drift over into the middle of the tree. Continue painting lighter snow with Winter Blue and Winter Blue + White. The tree on the left should not be as bright as the one on the right, so reserve White for the foreground tree. Snow Snow is applied in stages, working from dark to light, keeping in mind where the light source is coming from. Begin the lighter snow by dry brushing with a #10 flat. If you find this difficult, add a little canvas gel in the brush. When using a medium, stay out of any water. Begin the snow drifts with Winter Blue and then Winter Blue + White. Wipe the brush and add shadows with Deep Midnight Blue. Keep the left side and the foreground dark. Apply more of the lighter snowdrifts. Remember your light source-ÓThe closer to the light source the brighter the highlightsÓ. When I have established some of the snow, I like to stop and continue painting my center of interest. I can always come back to the snow at a later time, adjusting the highlights and shadows. Tree Trunks (Table and Stools) Paint right over the rabbits if you traced them onto the box. Wash the table and stools with Dark Chocolate. Begin the shadows with Dark Chocolate + Black Green. Highlight Dark Chocolate + Sable. Brighten the highlights with Sable and Sable + Light Buttermilk. I used a #2 liner for most of the bark detail. On the left side of the table and stools add a little Pansy Lavender and a little French Grey Blue + a dot of Winter Blue. Top of the stools is Sable. Shade under the snowladies with a float of Dark Chocolate + Black Green. Highlight with Winter Blue on both of the tops and add a White highlight on the top edge of the right stool. Base the tablecloth Light Buttermilk. Shade with floats of Sable and add a few darker floats of Sable + Dark Chocolate by the teapot, under the cookie plate and below the table edge. Highlight the tablecloth with White. The little rose is Deep Burgundy, with a float of Black Plum in the center and bottom of the rose. Highlight with strokes of Deep Burgundy + White. Leaves are Hauser Medium Green, outlined with Black Green. Base the teapot, cookie plate and cup with Light Buttermilk. Shade with Deep Midnight Blue. Add highlight strokes of White. Trim is EmperorÕs Gold. Cookies are painted Sable, shaded with Dark Chocolate and White icing is applied with dots using the tip of a liner brush. Little Snowlady Use an old scruffy brush and shade by stippling with Deep Midnight Blue. Stipple highlights with Winter Blue, dirty brush + White and final White highlights. Wash a little Pansy Lavender tints on the shadow side. Mommy snowlady is painted the same. LetÕs dress our ladies! You may wish to change the colors to fit your dˇcor. Feel free! Boa: use the tip of a liner brush to dab on the base starting with the dark color and working up to the lightest. The boa is tiny little feathers and should be kept loose along the edges and brighter along the right edges. Begin with a base of Black Plum, then Santa Red, Royal Fuchsia and Royal Fuchsia + Light Buttermilk. Hat: base with Honey Brown on the brim and crown and Raw Sienna on the underneath side of the hat. Highlight with dry brushes of Moon Yellow and then Pineapple. Shade with floats or dry brushes of Dark Chocolate. After the hat is dry add the ribbon or tulle trim. Use a tiny liner brush and the same colors as the boa. Faces Dry brush the cheeks Deep Burgundy + White. Eyes and mouth are Black with tiny White highlights in the eyes. Carrot noses are done with a #2 or #4 liner loaded with Cadmium Orange keeping the brush flat; do not pull the brush to a point. Side load into Black Plum and keeping the dark side of the brush toward the bottom of the carrot, set the brush down with pressure and release pulling to a point. If you have difficultly double loading the liner just paint the nose with Cadmium Orange and shade with a float of Black Plum. Highlight the middle of the nose with a line of Pineapple. MommyÕs Clothing Base the jacket and hat with Evergreen. When dry, dry brush Pineapple + Hauser Medium Green highlights. Add plaid lines to jacket with Santa Red, French Grey Blue and Pineapple. Shade with floats of Evergreen + Black Green. Add a little Light Buttermilk + Pineapple to the brush and highlight the jacket once again. Roses on the hat are the same as the tablecloth. Add a little French Grey Blue to the left side of each rose. Accent the coat and hat with thin Pansy Lavender on the shadow side. Stipple fur collar with Sable, shade with Dark Chocolate and highlight with Sable + Light Buttermilk. Buttons are Moon Yellow using the back end of a small paint brush or stylus. Add a touch of Cadmium Orange to the left side and a dot of Pineapple on the right. Rabbits These little creatures could be eliminated and not disturb the painting. For those of you that like lots of details transfer the pattern of the rabbits onto your box. Base coat each Slate Grey. Shade each with Slate Grey + Black. Use a tiny liner and short overlapping strokes to add the fur using Grey Sky and Grey Sky + White. Because I do not like the look of too many lines, I floated some of the lightest areas with White. Eyes and nose are Black with tiny White highlights. Wash a little Pansy Lavender on the left side of the rabbits. Shade under the rabbits and on the left side with Deep Midnight Blue and again Deep Midnight Blue + Black. Do not make the rabbits too important. You might like to try little brown rabbits instead of grey. Twig Bush The small twig bush is painted with a liner brush using Dark Chocolate and shaded with Dark Chocolate + Black Green. Add a little snow with French Grey Blue. Keep this area dark. Under the bush stipple dark foliage of Deep Midnight + Black Green. Scuff a little of this dark color along the front edge of the box. Keeping this front edge of the painting dark makes the viewer focus his attention on the center of interest. Cardinal Base the bird Deep Burgundy. Add touches of Santa Red and Royal Fuchsia. Add Black next to the beak. The beak is Honey Brown. Highlight with Pineapple and add a line of Black on the bottom edge. Stain the bottom and inside of the box with your favorite wood stain. You could spatter the bottom with a combination of Dark Chocolate, Black Green, and French Grey Blue. Paint the edge of the box top with Black Green. Lettering is Santa Red, lined with Deep Burgundy or Hauser Medium Green and EmperorÕs Gold. Add some little roses if desired. Fill the box with a variety of teas and give it to any proud mother, aunt, sister, grandmother or friend. What a wonderful gift!