Wildflower Cigar Box

Other Supplies

Paper towels, Foam plates, Medium grit sandpaper, and Tracing paper or waxed paper for practicing brushstrokes

Instructions

1. Background – Using a 3/4” Flat brush loaded with Citrus Green, paint the entire cigar box exterior; allow to dry. Sand surface smooth using medium grit sandpaper. Reapply a second coat of Citrus Green for opaque coverage. Allow to dry.
2. One Stroke Stalk Wildflower – NOTE: Use the One Stroke Teaching Guide as a practice guide; lay a sheet of either tracing paper or waxed paper over the printed guide, then practice painting One Stroke Wildflowers, leaves, and a dragonfly before painting directly onto the prepared wood cigar box. Load a No. 12 Flat brush two-thirds full with Titanium White and Daffodil Yellow; blend well. Hold the brush vertical with the chisel edge just touching the surface.  Apply pressure and pull the stroke towards you to create a “petal” stroke. This petal stroke is created by leading with Daffodil Yellow which will produce a “white” stalk wildflower. Reduce pressure and begin to lift the brush back to the chisel edge while continuing the brush stroke. NOTE: The brush stroke is wider where pressure is applied and thinner when on the chisel edge while pulling toward you. Paint additional petal strokes slightly lower on either side of the first brush stroke. Working lower in the design, paint a second row; add three more petal strokes slightly overlapping previous ones. Continue adding rows of overlapping petal strokes until the desired length of the stalk wildflower is achieved. End the petal strokes with a center petal. If desired, create a few additional stalk wildflowers using a Magenta and Titanium White double loaded brush.
3. One Stroke Thistle Wildflower – Double load a No. 12 Flat brush two-thirds full with Violet Pansy and Titanium White; blend well. While holding the brush vertical and on its chisel edge, touch the surface. Lightly pull a line upward leading with stroke with Titanium White. Lift to end the stroke at the desired length of the petal. Paint additional slightly arching and overlapping lines all beginning from the same starting point. Continue painting the chisel edge lines creating a “fan” shape. Flip the brush direction so that the next stokes will lead with Violet Pansy and trailing with Titanium White. Paint additional thistle flower petals. Double load a No. 12 Flat brush two-thirds full with Thicket and Daffodil Yellow; blend well. While holding the brush vertical and on its chisel edge, keeping Thicket to the top of the stroke, touch the base of the thistle flower and pull a few stokes downward creating the sepal and stem. If desired, create a few additional thistle wildflowers using a Magenta and Titanium White double loaded brush.
4. One Stroke Daisy – Double load a No. 12 Flat brush two-thirds full with Titanium White and Magenta; blend well. Hold the brush vertical with the chisel edge just touching the surface. Begin to apply pressure and pull the stroke towards you to create a “petal” stroke. NOTE: To create a pink daisy, lead with Titanium White, to create a white daisy with pink accents, lead with Magenta. Reduce pressure and begin to lift the brush back to the chisel edge while continuing the brushstroke. NOTE: The brush stroke is wider where pressure is applied and thinner on the chisel edge while pulling towards you. Paint the first four daisy petals at 12, 6, 3 and 9 o’clock. Paint additional petal strokes between the initial four strokes using the same technique. To complete the daisy petals, paint yet another petal stroke between each of the previously painted daisy petals. This last row of daisy petals can be painted the same length or slightly shorter. Complete the daisy by adding a flower center with dots of Daffodil Yellow using the handle end of a paintbrush. NOTE: Flower centers can be a large single dot or multiple smaller dots.
5. One Stroke Five Petal Flower – Double load a No. 12 Flat brush two-thirds full with Violet Pansy and Titanium White; blend well. While holding the brush vertical on its chisel edge, paint two lines creating a “V” as a placeholder for the direction and size of the petal to be painted. Place the chisel edge of the brush on the left side of the “V.” While keeping Violet Pansy to the top of the stroke, apply pressure and create a stroke with a slight arch shape. Release pressure and end the petal stroke on the chisel edge of the brush at the second placeholder mark. Repeat this same petal stroke two more times – both to the right and to the left of the original stroke. NOTE: Think of creating a “gingerbread man” – the first stroke is his head followed by adding his arms and lastly by adding his legs. Add the fourth and fifth petal strokes. Complete the five petal flower by adding a Daffodil Yellow dot in the center. If desired, paint a few trailing petals from the full flower.
6. Basic One Stroke Leaves – Double load a No. 12 Flat brush two-thirds full with Thicket and Citrus Green; blend well on the palette. Hold the brush up on the chisel edge so that it is just touching the surface. Begin the Basic One Stroke Leaf by applying pressure and allowing the bristles to expand in width. Pull the stroke while lifting the brush and releasing pressure; ending the brush stroke on the chisel edge pulling to create the tip of the leaf. Touch, press, pull and lift to the chisel edge! Create a few shadow leaves using the same stroke technique. Load the No. 12 Flat brush with Violet Pansy – if desired, add a touch of Floating Medium to create a transparent shadow leaf. NOTE: also, if desired, add embellishments of scrolls and tendrils using a No. 2 Script Liner brush.
7. One Stroke Dragonfly – Double load a No. 12 Flat brush two-thirds full with Thicket and a touch of Violet Pansy; blend well. Hold the brush flat to the surface with the chisel edge just touching the surface. Create the dragonfly head by applying pressure and lightly pulling a short, flat stroke; release pressure and lift. To create the dragonfly body, paint several short flat strokes making sure they connect each other. As each dragonfly body stroke is added, notice the brushstroke is smaller creating a descending-sized body. Add a tail by painting a petal stroke below the last body section. Touch the chisel edge to the surface, apply pressure, and then pull the brushstroke towards the last body section. Load the No. 8 Flat brush with Titanium White; paint a petal stroke for each wing. Touch the surface with the chisel edge, apply pressure and pull the stroke towards the body and head. Release pressure ending the wing on the chisel edge. Load a No. 2 Script Liner brush with thinned Thicket. Paint two antennae and add linework to each dragonfly wing.