Summer Days!by Cindy Mann Vitale

Summer DaysBy Cindy Mann Vitale

Palette: DecoArt Americana AcrylicsAvocado #13052 Avocado Dip #13248Baby Blue #13042 Bleached Sand #13251Burnt Umber #13064 Citron Green #13235Country Red #13018 Cranberry Wine #13112Hauser Dark Green #13133 Honey Brown #13163Lamp Black #13067 Light Buttermilk #13164Limeade #13206 Marigold #13194Moon Yellow #13007 Navy Blue #13035Neutral Grey #13095 Poodleskirt Pink #13257Raw Sienna #13093 Razzle Berry #13266Russet #13080 Warm White #13239Winter Blue #13190

Surface:Framed Signboard #62319

Misc. Supplies:Deco Art Staining/ Antiquing Medium #84126Dura Clear Matte Varnish #87395Spatter toolPermanent Ink pen, size .005, black #70131

Brushes: Papillon by the Artist’s ClubRound, size 2 #20158; size 5 #20162; size 8 #20164Liner, size 1 #20147Glaze Wash, size 1” #20103A Note about Brushes: Use a brush size that’s in proportion for the area in which you are working, and is the best fi t for you. I use round brushes for almost all of my painting, basing, and shading. The only time I use a fl at or wash brush is for very large areas of base coating, antiquing, and varnishing.

Preparation:Before We Begin:This is a note to encourage you, especially if you are trying my technique for the fi rst time!I never, never worry about being perfect! I gave that up years ago! Strive to create an acceptable result, keeping in mind that most errors and mistakes are never discerned by anyone but you!Relax, and have fun! Enjoy the experience, and give yourself permission to enjoy the painting as you learn!Good is Good Enough!Fill in holes, if needed, lightly sand, and wipe away dust.I usually transfer the entire design onto my board, and paint the background and base coat around each design element. This is, of course, a tedious process. What can I say? It’s a “Cindy” thing!1

However, it is more reasonable to base coat the majority, if not the entire board surface with the primary background color, allow to dry, and transfer all the design elements. If you are working with a pale or white background base coat, it works well to base in the entire surface, since painting over a very light and neutral color does not distort the next paint applica-tion.If the surface becomes rough or raises during the basing process, then sand lightly with very fi ne grit sandpaper, or a piece of brown paper bag. Do not sand the surface until it become slick and shiny. This will prevent you from applying the shading with my technique, as the paint mixture will not adhere well as you move the brush over the surface. My shading process works much better if the surface is slightly rough, with “tooth” for the shading mixture to grab into the grain.Transfer the lettering, fl owers, stems, leaves, fl ag and pole, watermelon, apple, crock and the table covering. Do not transfer the seeds in the apple center, seeds in the watermelon, star on the fl ag, the polka dots on the table covering, the veining or detailing of the fl owers, or leaves. All interior details should be added after the base coating and/or shading are completed.These will be added after the basecoat and the some of the shading is complete.Base coat the frame with Avocado Dip. Shade the corners with Avocado.

Painting Instructions:The Background:Base in the background with a mixture of Winter Blue and Warm White. Shade around the corners with Navy Blue, as well as the shading around the design elements such as the fl owers, leaves, crock, fl ag, and watermelon and pulling out the shading from around the let-tering.The Lettering:Base in with Baby Blue. Shade with Navy Blue. Pull out some of the Navy Blue as a very light wash onto the background around the letters as you work shading the lettering. This should be done lightly, and only in some areas. Apply the shading so that some of the original base color shows through, and there is a defi nite variation from dark to light on each letter.

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The Flag:Base in the white areas with Warm White. Shade with Burnt Umber. Base in the red areas with Country Red. Shade with Cranberry Wine. Base in the blue area with Baby Blue. Shade with Navy Blue.Transfer the star, and base with Moon Yellow. Shade with Raw Sienna.The Flag Pole:Base in with Marigold. Shade with Russet.The Crock:Base coat the crock in Bleached Sand. Shade with Burnt Umber, and Honey Brown, alternatively.Use Honey Brown to paint on a thin band of color around the top and the bottom of the crock.Use highly diluted Burnt Umber to paint on a thin crack from the bottom of the crock and another small crack at the top edge of the crock.Paint on the design with thinned Navy Blue. I chose this design from a photo of an antique crock. However there are a large variety of crockery symbols that could be substituted should you decide to use another de-sign.The Daisies:Paint in the centers with Moon Yellow. Shade with Raw Sienna. Paint on the petals with Warm White. Shade with Navy Blue. Pull out some of the shading around the area behind the petals as well. Add dots of Lamp Black around the outside edge of the fl ower center with the tip of a liner brush. Paint these on in irregular shapes, and sizes for variation. The Daisy Leaves:Base with Limeade. Shade with Hauser Green Dark. Paint on a thin vein down the center of the leaf with a liner brush. The Apple:Base the outer peel of the apple with Country Red. Shade with Cranberry 3

Wine. Base in the outer area of the inside area with Warm White. Base the inner core area with Light Buttermilk. Shade with the outer area and the inner core area with Honey Brown, applying a heavier application of the shading in the inside core area to create a darker effect.Transfer or freehand the seeds. Paint in with Burnt Umber.Paint on the stem with Honey Brown, and shade with Burnt Umber.The Apple Leaf:Base leaf with Limeade, and shade with Avocado. Paint on veining, with thinned Avocado.The Watermelon:Base in the rind with Warm White. When dry, shade with Citron Green. Keep the shading focused toward the bottom edge of the watermelon rind, so as to fade off softly as it reaches the top of the rind, to maintain the white under color. Allow this applica-tion to dry. Use Hauser Green Dark to shade around the outer most edge of the rind, being sure not to com-pletely cover the Citron Green shading. Base coat the interior area with Poodleskirt Pink. Shade around the area close to the rind, with Razzle Berry. Repeat this process with three or four applications to intensify and deepen the color, allowing for each application to completely dry before applying the next. The shading should be applied to fade and blend as it moves away from the rind, toward the top edge of the slice. Using a brush that is fi lled with Razzle Berry, wipe out the excess paint, then fi ll the tip with Warm

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White. Blend to mix, on a damp paper towel. Blending on a dry surface will pull out too much of the paint mixture. Use this mixture to shade over the top of the watermelon slice to lighten. Use a very small amount of di-luted Cranberry Wine to deepen and darken only a few areas next to the rind. Transfer the seeds, or freehand. Paint in with light washes of Lamp Black in varying degrees of intensity. This will give the impression seeds are positioned at different levels in the water-melon slice.The Table Covering:Base with Warm White. Shade with Burnt Umber.Paint on the polka dots in an oval shape with thinned Neutral Grey. Shade with a light wash of Lamp Black, to give a faded effect.

Varnishing:When all the paint has thorough-ly dried, brush on a thin, even application of varnish. Using a damp glaze/ wash brush, dip into diluted varnish ( approx. 50-50 varnish to water ) and brush on a light even coat. Allow to dry and repeat for complete cover-age. I do not like a heavy, shiny fi nish. The surface should be adequate-ly sealed, so when the antiquing is brushed on later, it will not grab into the grain of the wood and cause dark staining.

Antiquing:Allow the varnish to completely dry, and then apply antiquing using the same size of brush.Mix antiquing Deco Art Staining/ Antiquing Medium with some of the Burnt Umber in a ratio of 50-50. I mix this as I work, since there is no waste to this technique. Fill damp brush with mixture, and work over the surface until brush is empty.

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If mixture still seems too thick, add a small amount of water to the brush before loading.Work in grids, brush mixture over the surface, pulling out as far as possible to empty the brush.Refi ll brush, and repeat until entire surface is covered, blending the edges as you work, for even coverage. The process can be repeated to darken, if needed, when the fi rst application has completely dried. You can also add extra antiquing to accent certain areas, such as the corners, with the glaze brush, or a small round brush for smaller areas, just as you would apply the shading technique.

Inking:As an option, you can outline the fi nished design with the .005 permanent ink pen.This technique pulls out design elements and is an easy way to add fi ne details that would be dif-fi cult with a brush and paint. I use the pen to outline all shapes and designs, such as the lettering, daisies, fl ag, crock, watermel-on and the apple. Draw the swirls on the polka dots, and inside the fl ower centers.

Spattering:Spatter using a spatter tool, or a toothbrush, with Lamp Black.

The Final Finish:For a protective fi nish I suggest using Americana Matte: Spray sealer.Brushing over the inking can cause bleeding.I usually apply two very light coats, allowing ample drying time, in between coats.Refer to directions printed on the can to ensure results.To display the board, attach a saw tooth hanger.My Technique for Painting on Wood:I almost always paint on unsealed, or raw wood. The only exceptions would be wood that is dam-aged, or stained.

In that circumstance, I would use a sealer, and possibly even gesso, to conceal the fl aws. As a rule, I paint on new wood, but with a bit of prep you can use older items for a trash to trea-sure theme! In fact, I love to collect antique and vintage items! These old fi nds are perfect to create a unique painting surface.Since I use so much water in my applications, the raw wood absorbs much of the moisture, and this will often cause the wood grain to raise during the painting process. If this should happen, lightly sand with a piece of Kraft paper, (or brown grocery bag), to smooth down the surface again. The surface should not be sanded until it is very smooth or slick. My boards still retain a slightly roughed texture, throughout the entire basing and shading pro-cess. This technique of sanding with the brown paper can be used during the base coating, shading, or varnishing process as long as the surface has completely dried. If you are uncomfortable painting on the raw wood, then use the method that is most familiar for you, keeping in mind, that a slick and shiny surface will not lend itself well to my method of shad-ing.

Tips for Basing: I use diluted applications of paint for base coating, approximately 50-50 water to paint as a start point.I gauge this according to the thickness of the paint, and the color I am using. Diluting too much gives a poor base coat, and yet, the paint should glide smoothly over the surface with no drag. Using diluted applications of paint is how I achieve a soft watercolor effect. It’s necessary to create a strong base coat to maintain the color and to support the shading appli-cation. To duplicate my results you need to create a balance of base color and shading. Otherwise, the base color is weak, and can be distorted, giving an undesirable result for the entire design.If you choose to use antiquing as an option for fi nishing, then a weak base coat will affect those results as well.You may need to increase the ratio of paint to water, or apply more than one application, to build up the basecoat color to be strong enough to support the shading applications. If you are unsure of the base coat test a small area with a shading application. If the color looks weak, then quickly remove by washing off the area with a clean brush fi lled with water, and allow to dry. Apply another application of base color to deepen, allow to dry. Don’t be concerned if the shading area is slightly stained. The next application of shading will conceal that area. Never apply another coat of basing or shading until the previous application has thoroughly dried.Each step or application must be thoroughly dry before moving on to the next step.This is also true for varnishing and antiquing.

Tips for Shading: I use diluted applications of paint for my shading, just as I do for basing. Begin with approximately a 50-50 ratio of water to paint for most colors, with the exception of deep colors like black or dark blue. Then a higher ratio of water would be needed, such as 95 % water to 5 % paint, to start. Once you become more familiar with the technique, the ratio of water will become second nature for correct results. Trial and error is the best teacher, with consistent practice. Shading is not completed in a one-step application, but requires several applications of the paint/water mixture to build to the desired fi nished effect. 7

For some of the darker results, I apply up to 4 or 5 shading layers.I use a liner brush for basing in very small areas, and rounds for the remainder of the shading pro-cess.

I fi ll only the tip of a damp, round brush with the paint/water mixture, and rub it into the wood by moving the brush back and forth over the surface. Moving from the edges of the area being shaded outward, allows for the brush to empty out as you move toward the center, and the shading color fades into the base color.Using the sides of the brush is what creates the soft washes of color, with no harsh edges.Using only the tip of the brush will create stripes or streaks, and harsh lines.Shading with this method will cause the brush to become frayed out at the end, but that is exactly what I want, because that gives me more brush surface to create the soft watercolor effect. My brushes have lasted for many years despite the rough treatment. I keep a set of rounds in original condition for painting fi ne points and details.The liners are for the fi ne detailing, and the glaze/wash brush for varnishing and antiquing.

Tips for Antiquing:The antiquing is a fi nal step to dull down the paint for an aged effect. For a more primitive result, consider sanding the edges of the board, and use a heavier fi nal application of antiquing, which will stain the exposed wood, and give a worn appearance. The colors will lose their crisp, clean effect.In the antiquing process, a weak base of color will allow the antiqu-ing to grab the wood grain and dominate the fi nal effect. If the base coat is too light or weak, the project will have a darker brown, or even a muddy appearance.

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1” x 1”

To ensure your pattern is at 100%, this box should measure 1” x 1” when printed.

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Copyright 2011 Cindy Mann Vitale and Crafts Americana Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. #331560

No. *A331560*© Artist’s Club ®. All rights reserved. For private, non-commercial use only. Please see our web site for terms of use.