Spring in Pink Tulips Plaque

Spring in Pink Tulips Plaque

Posted by DecoArt on May 4th 2015

Celebrate the color of Spring with this stenciled plaque, highlighted with bright tulips and inspiring words.

SUPPLIES

    • water container
    • palette or plastic plate
    • paper towels
    • transfer paper
    • sandpaper
    • #6 flat brush
    • #10 flat brush
    • #8 flat brush
    • #0 liner brush
    • #12 flat brush
    • clean cloth
    • palette knife
    • 1" wash brush
    • 1/2" stencil brush
    • Live Well Stencil
    • Love Stencil
    • wooden plaque
    • floral spray stencil

    INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Lightly sand the plaque edges, if needed. Wipe clean with a cloth.
    2. Basecoat the plaque's front and back with Vintage; let dry completely.
    3. Apply Crackle Medium to the front of the plaque in the upper left quarter, applying a bit heavy towards the middle. Apply thin layers on the right and lower left sides. Let dry, but not cure.
    4. Instruction #3
    5. Apply a topcoat of Everlasting. Let dry completely.
    6. Side-load a damp (not wet) 1” wash brush with Baby Blue, making sure you don’t have ridges on the sides of the bristles. Streak the paint down the plaque, maintaining the same direction. (Less paint is better; it is very easy to add another coat. It is much harder to correct very heavy paint.)
    7. Instruction #5
    8. Position the floral stencil in the upper right corner of the plaque, pointing up. Load a 1/2" stencil brush with Vintage and stencil. Repeat this positioning of the stencil lower and pointing down, again in the upper right corner. Repeat this in the lower left corner of the plaque, only once. (Refer to photo for placement.)
    9. Position the "Live Well" stencil along the right side and tap in Light Buttermilk.
    10. Instruction #7
    11. Position the "Love" stencil across the piece and tap in Light Buttermilk.
    12. In the upper right corner of the plaque, position the floral stencil in the middle of the two images you stenciled with Vintage.
    13. Apply White Modeling Paste to the stencil. Repeat this in the lower left corner, positioning the stencil above the image you stenciled. Let this dry completely.
    14. Instruction #10
    15. Side-load a 1” wash brush with True Ochre and tint the upper left corner down the left side (about 2/3 of the plaque).
    16. Repeat this on the right side, starting at the bottom of the plaque and working up the side. Be sure to soften out the edges.
    17. Basecoat the tulips in Boysenberry Pink.
    18. Basecoat the leaves in Hauser Medium Green. While the paint is still wet, streak down the leaf with a #8 flat brush, standing it on its chisel edge. (Hint: You don’t want ridges; you want streaks. Be sure to pull down the leaf in the direction of the growth and not across.) Let dry and repeat. (This process adds texture to the leaves.)
    19. Instruction #14
    20. Side-load a #12 flat brush with Burgundy Wine and shade across the bottom of both tulips.
    21. Side-load a #8 flat brush with Burgundy Wine and shade the separations of the petals in both tulips. (Hint: Be sure to soften out the edges leading into the petal. The edge of the petal is a hard edge and should not be softened. There should not be ridges.)
    22. Instruction #16
    23. Side-load a #10 flat brush with Evergreen and shade the leaves.
    24. Side-load a #12 flat brush with a 1:2 mix of Boysenberry Pink and Light Buttermilk and highlight the front petals of the tulips. Side-load a #8 flat brush with this same mix and highlight the back petals of the tulips.
    25. Side-load a #10 flat brush with Hauser Light Green and highlight the leaves.
    26. Instruction #19
    27. Repeat the last two steps to re-enforce the lights and darks.
    28. Side-load a #10 flat brush with Red Violet and shade across the bottom of both tulips. Side-load a #8 flat brush with Red Violet to shade the separations in both tulips, applying as a back-to-back float and softening it out about 2/3 of the way down the petal. (A back-to-back float is a side-load float in which the brush is flipped and an additional float applied against the hard edge of the previous float. This softens out the color, leaving no hard edge.)
    29. Instruction #21
    30. Side-load a #10 flat brush with Light Buttermilk to highlight the front petals of the tulips.
    31. Side-load a #6 flat brush with Light Buttermilk and highlight the back outer petals of the tulips. (The very back petals do not have this highlight.) (Hint: This paint should not be heavy. This is the final detail. Make sure the paint is a bit transparent, and the floats are softened out on the soft edge. )
    32. Instruction #23
    33. Side-load a #8 flat brush with a 1:1 mix of Hauser Light Green and Light Buttermilk and highlight the leaves.
    34. Load a #0 liner brush with Light Buttermilk. (This paint should the consistency of ink or 1% milk.) Paint a bit of linework on the edge of some of the front petals and leaves. Keep these lines are very fine and softened where the line starts and stops. You can soften by tapping with a small dry flat brush and gently tapping.
    35. Side-load a #8 flat brush with Burgundy Wine and softly tint some of the leaves, using very little paint and a soft touch.
    36. Instruction #26
    37. Double-load a #12 flat brush with Hauser Medium Green and Baby Blue and steak this along the ridge edge of the plaque. (This makes a nice soft edging to frame in the design. )
    38. Let the plaque dry a couple of days. When dry, varnish with Soft-Touch Varnish.

    DOWNLOADS

    Tulips Pattern