Craft Focus - Oct/Nov (Issue 63)

58 craft focus Ann Mortimer shows how to paint wonderful autumn leaf in 30 minutes. The postcard size paintings would make a stunning seasonal window display to entice customers to take up painting MATERIALS NEEDED AUTUMN LEAF “Every season has its charms, but for me, autumn wins over all others because of its vibrant colours. Golds, oranges, reds, greens and yellows – not forgetting purples and browns and their myriad combinations – all make this season a feast for the eyes,” says author Ann Mortimer. • Paint colours – burnt sienna, raw sienna, Indian yellow, aureolin, permanent rose, Winsor red, French ultramarine, and cobalt blue • Size 10 round brush • Tapered palette knife • Tracing number 13 featured in the book Steps to paint When painting autumn colours, lay a first wash of yellow or gold so that this shines through further washes. 1. Prepare wells of aureolin, raw sienna, Indian yellow, Winsor red, burnt sienna and permanent rose. Make up a dark mix of burnt sienna, French ultramarine and cobalt blue. Begin by laying a wash of aureolin over the whole leaf area. 2. Drop in raw sienna and Indian yellow to vary the mix. 3. Dab Winsor red onto the points of the leaf, wet-in-wet*. Allow the colour to spread inwards. 4. Dot in burnt sienna, still working wet-in-wet, so that the palette of colours blends. 5. Drop the dark mix into the ends of the leaf, over the reds. 6. Continue to layer the colours from the palette, with the addition of permanent rose dotted in the middle of the leaf area. 7. Load up the tip of a tapered palette knife with the dark mix from step 5. Use your finger to release the paint from the palette knife and spatter the mix loosely over the page. Repeat with cobalt blue. As the painting dries, the spattered spots will give the leaf its recognisable ageing, speckled appearance. 8. Ensure that the paint is still wet, and use the end of your brush to pull the wet paint in streaks across the leaf to form veins. 9. Paint the stalk in burnt sienna. Drop in the other colours from your autumnal palette to give the stalk tone and form. 10. Drop more of the dark mix into the pointed ends of the leaf. Finally, use the end of your brush again to pull out and emphasise some of the points of the leaf. * Wet-in-wet is one of the most distinctive techniques of watercolor painting, and is the application of wet pigment to wet paper. Thanks to Search Press for this book extract from Ready to Paint in 30 minutes: Flowers in Watercolour (ISBN: 9781782215196) by Ann Mortimer. This complete beginner’s guide to watercolour painting flowers iis ideal for customers who want to learn to paint but are short on time. Each of the 35 quick and easy to paint and takes no more than 30 minutes to complete. Each painting is accompanied by actual-size tracing. To stock the book visit the publisher’s website, searchpress.com. Three autumnmixes Create an assortment of autumnal mixes using a range of yellows, pinks and blues from the palette. Yellows and pinks will provide the oranges for leaves and red fruits. Adding blues will result in rich, dark hues of brown and purple for bramble twigs and blackberries. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10