Poinsettia Magic Mixed Media Canvas

Posted by DecoArt on Dec 2nd 2014

The vibrant, magical Fluid Acrylics from DecoArt's new Media® line of products make this poinsettia POP!

NOTES:

All floating and shading colors will be mixed with the Matte Medium.

Seal the canvas with surface two coats of White Gesso, allowing the appropriate drying time between coats. Lightly sand smooth with extra fine sanding pad.
BACKGROUND: Starting in the upper right corner, mist lightly with Turquoise Shimmer Mister. Spray Yellow Green in the top left and bottom right corners. Mist the bottom left with Red. Spray the center area sparingly with Yellow Shimmer.
While still wet, lightly mist the entire surface with White Shimmer and allow to dry.

Mix Matte Medium with Raw Sienna. Using a 3/4" oval wash brush and a slip-slap technique, apply a transparent layer to create an antique effect.
Load the same brush with Matte Medium and Burnt Umber to darken the corners and around the outer edges.
Mix Cobalt Teal Hue with Matte Medium; load the same brush and slip-slap to enhance the upper right corner.
POINSETTIA: Load a #8 filbert brush with Matte Medium and Quinacridone Red to paint the front petals of the poinsettia.
Using the same brush, paint the back petals with a Primary Magenta/Matte Medium mix. (The petals should be painted loosely, not solid and heavy, and the background will be visible.)
Using the 1/2" angle brush, shade the base of the petals, their bottom edges, and in between the petals very lightly with Payne’s Grey.
Deepen the shading with Quinacridone Violet.
Highlight the petal tops and middles with Pyrrole Orange.
Brighten the highlights with Diarylide Yellow and then, when dry, with Titanium White.
Use a #8 filbert brush with Matte Medium and Raw Sienna to create rounded stamen in the center area by dabbing.
With the same brush, add touches of Green Gold and highlight with Diarylide Yellow. Finish with a few highlights of Titanium White.
LEAVES: To paint the leaves, load a #8 filbert brush with a Phthalo Green-Yellow/Matte Medium mix. (The leaves will also be translucent and loose.) Shade the leaf bases and bottom edges with Payne’s Grey.
Highlight the top edges with Green Gold and then with Diarylide Yellow.

PINE BRANCHES: Load a #6 floral round brush with thinned Payne’s Grey to paint the center branch and the first layer of pine needles.
With a dirty brush, pick up thinned Phthalo Green-Yellow and paint another layer of pine needles. Finish with Green Gold as the highlight color.
Load the toe of 1/2" angle brush with thinned Payne’s Grey to float shadows below and to the right of pine branches, poinsettia petals, and leaves.

BACKGROUND DESIGN: To create soft dots, place the Polka Dot Accent stencil and secure it with painter’s tape. Load a 1/2" stencil brush with Phthalo Green-Yellow and wipe the excess on a paper towel. Lightly dry-brush over the stencil to create faint dots. (Only stencil a few at a time so they look random.) Move the stencil and repeat as desired.
DOILY TEXTURE: Place the Doily stencil in the corner and secure it with painter’s tape. With a palette knife, mix White Modeling Paste with Titanium White. Using a palette knife, apply the mix over the stencil and scrape smooth. Carefully lift stencil and let dry.
Repeat previous step in the opposite corner. (The design will be more appealing if the doily images are different sizes.)

STAMPING: Attach the selected cling stamp to the acrylic handle. Using the small specialty sponge, coat the stamp with the selected color. (Too much paint will result in a blurry print, while not enough will be an incomplete image.) Position and stamp the image onto the surface. Reload and repeat as desired.
STAMPED LETTERING: Coat the stamp with Payne’s Grey. Place and stamp at random angles and locations. (The stamp can be placed over portions of the poinsettia.)
STAMPED SNOWFLAKES: Stamp snowflakes with Titanium White, imprinting several groupings of the snowflakes. To stamp single snowflakes, cover the snowflakes not being stamped with masking tape. Apply Titanium White and remove the masking tape. ( This will allow the stamping of one or two snowflakes as desired.)
BERRIES AND BRANCHES: Using a # 0 liner brush, paint the berry branches Burnt Umber. Load the same brush with Payne’s Grey to pull a thin line along the bottom side of the branch.
Using the handle end of the brush, dip-dot Pyrrole Orange berries.
When dry, load an extra large berry maker with Primary Magenta. Center over the berry, press down, and twist. Add a tiny Titanium White dot in the top left of each berry.
Load a #0 liner brush with Titanium White and pile snow along the top of the branches and around the berries.
Float a light Payne’s Grey shadow below the branches on the background.

LINEWORK AND DETAILS: Load a 18/0 script liner brush with Payne’s Grey and loosely outline the poinsettia petals, center stamen, and leaves, and add needles on the pine branches. Add Titanium White highlights on the petals, stamen, and a few needles on the pine branches with the 18/0 liner brush.
SPATTERING: Load a #6 floral round brush with thinned Titanium White. Rap the brush sharply against a ruler to create a spatter. (Always test on the palette before spattering on surface.) Spatter heavier around the outer edges.
Pick up just a little Payne’s Grey on an index finger and rub around the outer edge. (This will create a distressed border.)
The edges are based with White Gesso. Using a small specialty sponge, float a wash of Phthalo Yellow-Green randomly. With the same dirty sponge, pick up Cobalt Teal Hue to blend together. Darken the corners and top edges with Quinacridone Violet. Finish with Payne’s Grey. Place the Doily stencil to match up with the top and stencil the side edges with Titanium White. Shade Payne’s Grey lightly down the corner edges.
Using a specialty sponge, apply several light coats of Soft-Touch Satin Varnish, allowing appropriate drying time between coats. Attach various sizes of crystal stickers in the centers of snowflakes.

Free Shipping On Orders $50+ (U.S. Addresses Only)