1. Sand wood. Basecoat with Olive Green, and sand again lightly.
2. Basecoat the box with Olive Green until solid coverage is achieved.
3. Basecoat the trim of the box with Pure Black.
4. To apply the faux finish to the top of the box, place Pure Black and Olive Green on your dry palette. Using a 1” wash brush apply a layer of Olive Green, wipe the brush, pick up Pure Black and slip-slap in a cross hatching direction to soften into the Olive Green. Let dry.
5. Spray lightly with matte acrylic sealer. Let dry.
6. Transfer Design.

The Painted Bunting

Eye

1. Using a liner, thin a mix of Titanium White + a tiny bit of Brilliant Ultramarine and paint a line (ring) around the pupil. It should be thicker at the back of the eye.
2. Thin Pure Black and paint the pupil. Now you can recreate the shape of the eye, if necessary, rounding it out or widening it. Let dry.
3. Thin Aqua and add a stroke on the right hand side of the eye.
4. Pick up a dot of Titanium White on the liner and add the highlight dot in the upper left corner of the eye.

Beak

Basecoat the beak with Pure Black. Let dry. Line the beak and highlight down the center, with thinned Titanium White.

Feet

1. Basecoat with Pure Black. Let dry. Re-basecoat with Pure Black and, while wet, use the liner to add Titanium White dots down the center of each foot and toe. Wipe the brush and tap the highlight into the balck. Let dry.
2. Thin Pure Black and paint curved segment lines along the foot.

Tail

1. The tail is based in Dioxazine Purple + Fuchsia for the top feathers and Brilliant Ultramarine + Aqua for the underneath feathers.
2. Sideload the #6 chisel blender with Prussian Blue and shade the blue feathers. Sideload with Dioxazine Purple and shade the purple feathers with Dioxazine Purple.
3. Thin Butler Magenta and use the 18/0 liner to paint the feather lines.

Back

Basecoat the back in Sap Green, as you work toward the tail add Pure Magenta, then Pure Magenta + Ultramarine Blue and finally Ultramarine Blue + Aqua.

Wings

Primaries (purple feathers)

1. Basecoat with Pure Magenta. Let dry.
2. Sideload the #6 chisel blender with Dioxazine Purple and float shading under each feather and where the primaries are overlapped with the coverts.
3. Highlight with soft floats of Fuchsia. Let dry, and further highlight with soft floats of Butler Magenta.
4. Paint feather lines with the 18/0 liner and thinned Butler Magenta on the outer edge of each feather. Add a center shaft line on the upper feathers using Butler Magenta. Thin Orchid and highlight a few feather and shaft lines.

Coverts (small green feathers)

1. Basecoat with Sap Green + a touch of Yellow Light. Let dry.
2. Sideload the #6 chisel blender with Pure Black + Sap Green and shade the coverts. Let dry.
3. Highlight with soft floats of Yellow Light.
4. Thin Yellow Light + Titanium White and use the 18/0 liner to paint the feather lines.

Scapulars (Shoulder)

1. Basecoat the shoulder area with Sap Green + a touch of Yellow Light.
2. Apply Blending Gel and re-basecoat the shoulder with Sap Green + Yellow Light. While wet, highlight with Yellow Light using the #2 chisel blender. Dry-wipe the brush and use the chisel edge to blend, following the growth direction. Let dry.
3. Thin Yellow light + Titanium White and highlight with tiny lines to cover the wing feathers.

Breast

1. Apply a thin layer of Blending Gel and re-basecoat with Butler Magenta + Pure Magenta. Wipe the brush and apply Dioxazine Purple under the neck area and along the wing feathers. Wipe the brush and use the chisel edge to chop the Dioxazine Purple into the basecoat.
2. Wipe the brush and pick up Titanium White + Butler Magenta. Apply the highlight to the front left area of the breast, quickly chopping it into the basecoat. If the bird starts to dry, stop, allow it to completely dry and then apply another layer of Blending Gel and glaze the highlights.

Head

1. Basecoat the head with a brush mix of Brilliant Ultramarine + Aqua. Let dry. Apply a thin layer of Blending Gel and re-basecoat the head with a mix of Aqua + Brilliant Ultramarine. Use a choppy motion and follow the growth direction.
2. While wet, highlight with a #2 chisel blender sparsely loaded with Aqua + Titanium White above the beak and on the cheek. Wipe the brush and chop the highlights into the basecoat color, blending with the chisel edge of the brush.
3. Apply shading near the throat and around the eye with Brilliant Ultramarine + Prussian Blue. Following the growth direction, connect the shading and the basecoat color. Wipe the brush.

Glaze

Apply a thin layer of Blending Gel to the bird and glaze to reinforce the shading and highlighting.

1. Add Titanium White to the brightest area on the breast and chisel-blend into the Blending Gel.
2. Glaze highlights with Titanium White + Aqua on the head and cheek.
3. Glaze the back with Dioxazine Purple to shade.

Detail

Thin Titanium White and add brighter highlights to the head, above the beak, on the cheek and where the head overlaps the shoulder. Add highlights with Titanium White to the breast and undertail coverts.

Branch

Base the branch with Burnt Umber. Highlight with thinned lines of Raw Sienna and then Raw Sienna + Titanium White.


Stroke-Leaves

1. Base the leaf in Sap Green.
2. Apply a thin layer of Blending Gel and re-basecoat with Sap Green. While wet, pull strokes from the outer edge inward toward the center vein line. Load the #6 chisel blender with one of the following colors; Yellow Light + Titanium White or Brilliant Ultramarine + Titanium White, or Fuchsia + Titanium White. Pull strokes from the outer edge toward the center vein line, decreasing the amount of pressure placed on the brush as you pull. You may mop to soften the accent stroke into the leaf. You must work quickly. Let dry.
3. Re-transfer vein lines.
4. Apply Floating Medium and sideload the #6 chisel blender with Pure Black. Shade above the curve of the vein line. Be sure that the dark is widest toward the base of the leaf and tapers as it move s toward the tip. Let dry.
5. Apply Floating Medium, sideload Pure Black and shade where one leaf overlaps another.
6. Apply Floating Medium, blot the brush, and sideload Yellow Light. Place the highlight under the curve of the vein line. If necessary, mop to soften. If your first highlight isn’t vibrant enough, let dry, then float Yellow Light in a smaller area than the first highlight (stacking). Mop to soften. Let dry.
7. Thin Yellow Light + Titanium White and, using the 18/0 liner, paint vein lines on each leaf.

Finishing

Apply a gold trim with Pure Gold on the bottom of the box. Let dry. Varnish with FolkArt Artists Varnish Satin Finish #885.