Bless the Birds

Other Supplies

9" x 12" Oval Plaque, ¾" Wash brush, ¼" and 3/8" Angle brush, #2 Flat brush, #4 Flat brush, #6 Flat brush, #1 Round brush, 18/0 Liner brush, ½" Mop brush, 1/8" and 3/8" Stencil brush, Stippler ½" (or use the larger stencil brush), Tracing paper, Stylus, Pencil

Instructions

Basecoating Instructions:

1. Paint the edge of the plaque Engine Red.
2. Paint the surface with Linen.
3. Using a pencil, trace pattern onto tracing paper then transfer pattern as needed onto surface.
4. Basecoat snow and snowman Wicker White.

Let's Paint Details!

1. With Burnt Umber: • Shade around the edge of the surface. • Shade the snowman around the head and body, on both arms, and around the outside of the seed bag, heart, and nose will be. This is shaded before the snowman is stippled. • Shade the top edge of the snow.
2. Using the stippler or stencil brush and Warm White, gently stipple the snowman all over, and stipple the snow across the bottom on the ground. Be sure to leave some of the shading show through from underneath.
3. Load the stippler or stencil brush with Wicker White and stipple again on the snowman, and across the ground to highlight. Stipple mainly in the center areas of the face, arm, hands, and tummy to highlight.
4. Basecoat the nose with Wicker White.
5. Paint the seed bag with English Mustard.
6. the birds with Red Light.
7. Using Engine Red, drybrush the snowman's cheeks, paint the stripes on the nose, paint and dot all hearts (or save dots till last), and shade the birds all the way around the edges.
8. Paint the beaks with English Mustard. 9. Float a tiny bit of Licorice on each bird’s head.
9. Paint the snowman’s eyes and dot the birds' eyes with Licorice. 11. Using thinned Licorice, paint the wire halo, the lashes and the mouth on the snowman.
10. Using thinned Thicket, paint the scarf.
11. Shade with Burnt Umber: • Above and below the wire halo. • The seed bag. • The beaks. • The snowman's nose across the top and bottom, then on the base where it meets the face. • The right side of each eye (on the outside edge of each eye). • Reinforce the shading around the arm, around the seed bag, on the right arm against the body, and across the top of the bottom snow. • Float a wing on each bird. • Shade the left side of the snowman's heart on the chest. • Shade above and below the scarf around the neck; and on one side of the scarf tails.
12. Using fresh Wicker White: • Go back and stipple extra highlights on the snowman, where needed, and also lightly stipple on top of cheeks. Also stipple on the arm again to make it fuzzy around the seed bag and on the hand holding the bird. • Highlight the left side of the snowman's eyes and dot the right side of each eye. • Dot the bird's eye using the very tip of the liner brush. • Highlight across the center of the snowman's nose.

Finishing: • Using the liner and thinned Licorice: • Write the words across the top of the plaque, and also on the seed bag. Add the bird's legs/feet. Using thinned Wicker White and the liner brush, outline the word Seed on the bag. Add snowflake "dots" randomly all over the board (do not use thinned paint).