The Decorative Folk Artist February/March 2017 | Página 6

To create the flower centre use the deer foot / scruffy brush dry , pick up a very small amount of the dark red paint on the toe of the brush and the dark brown on the heal of the brush . Pounce the brush with a gentle up and down motion onto some greaseproof paper , keeping on the spot so as not to mix the colours together . You want to see dots of paint from the brush with just enough paint and not one continuous block of colour from too much paint . As you pounce the brush move along onto fresh paper until you are happy with the effect . On the surface , I find it easier to turn the flower around and pounce the brush , keeping the toe or dark red away from you , following the outside edge of the circle and pounce the brush back and forth so as not to get a solid line . Pounce the middle of the circle making the centre a little darker . Using the toe of the brush pick up a little of the dark red and pounce a circle around the darker centre , turning the flower around as you go , making an inner circle . Wipe off the brush on kitchen roll then pick up a little of the yellow paint , pounce and test on the greaseproof paper then pounce the pollen onto the dark red inner circle and the outer edge circle . Gradually add more pounced paint as required to get the highlighted effect . If you add a bit too much or blob the paint , don ' t worry , wait for it to dry and you can always add the correct colour needed .
For the dots , it is best to put out a little fresh red paint as the dots will be clearer . Using the stylus or the end of a brush to create the dots , dip the ball into the red paint and touch down vertically onto the greaseproof paper to make a dot . This will give you a feel for how much paint you will need . The more paint the bigger the dot , the less paint the smaller the dot . You will need to frequently dip the stylus into the paint . Add your dots around the flower in clusters of 3 or to get creative with your own design . The dots use more paint and take longer to dry so are easily smudged . If they are smudged , wait for them to dry and paint over to cover .