MINI PLAQUES
With Wire Hangers
An original Design by Cheryl Bradshaw © 2001

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Palette: DecoArt Americana Acrylics

Antique Gold, Burnt Umber, Deep Midnight Blue,French Vanilla, Golden Straw, Light Buttermilk,
Light French Blue, Rookwood Red, Soft Black,Hot Shots Fiery Red

BRUSHES:
Flat Shader Brushes #6 # 8 and # 10
Round Brushes # 1 and # 3
Liner Brush 10/0 or your favorite. (Not a script Liner)
Chezza Fur Brush 1/8" or Filbert Rake 1/8"
Basecoating Brush
Small stencil or stippling brush (if using checker stencil

SUPPLIES:
DuraClear Satin Varnish

REQUIREMENTS:
Mini Plaques with Wire Hangers.
Checker Stencil 5mm or ¼"
White Graphite paper or Saral paper, Acrylic Blending Pad or something similar with a smooth flat surface for blending and rake brushing on, Chezza B Wet Palette, Paper Towel, Fine Sand paper, Stylus, Fine lead pencil, Magic Tape and Lint Free Cloth.

PREPARATION: Use the basecoating brush to apply one coat of Rookwood Red to the girl bears plaque and Deep Midnight Blue to the boys. Dry thoroughly, sand well, removing dust residue with a damp lint free cloth. Apply a second smooth coat. When dry, sand well along the plaque edges, removing the paint to give a distressed look.

TRANSFERRING THE PATTERN:
Note: The dotted areas on the pattern are shading guidelines only. Use magic tape to hold the tracing in place and lightly transfer the design onto the plaques using the graphite/saral paper and stylus or fine lead pencil.
Girl: Trace on the main outlines of the bear's head, muzzle, arms, chest and hearts. Do not trace the ribbon or the dotted areas on the pattern.
Boy: Trace all main outlines of bear in the same manner as the girls. Omit tracing the hearts.

Flat Shader Brushes and Floating: All the shadows and highlights are floated using a dampened shader. Load the appropriate colour onto one corner of the brush, blend well on your palette, then float onto the designated area. Rather than using just one application, build up thin layers of colour until you reach the desired depth. Make sure each layer is dry before applying the next. Use the largest brush possible to fit the area you are shading or highlighting. The width of the No 6 flat brush is used to paint the checkers around the girl's plaque if not using a stencil.

Liner Brushes and Round Brushes.
Use the liner brush to paint any fine lines on the design, e.g. bears mouth, nose, with paint which has been thinned with water to the consistency of ink. The round brushes are used to paint the bear's eyes, nose, hearts, lettering and any small areas.

Chezza Fur Brush or Filbert Rake Brush:
Either of these brushes can be used to paint the bear's fur by applying thin layers of colour using a sequence of 5 to 6 different colours ranging from dark to light. A firm flat surface is required on which to mix the paint puddles - I find my Chezza B palette lid works well for this. Add enough water to the paint to create an ink-like consistency, as the paint tends to dry quickly put one colour out at a time. Dip the brush into the paint puddle and flatten and fan it out a little to separate the bristles. Gently brush the excess paint onto the palette until only fine lines remain. The fur on both bears is painted in a sequence of 5 colors, which is repeated a second time. A final highlight is applied sparingly to the tips of the fur once the second sequence is completed. The muzzle fur is painted after the rest of the fur is completed and only requires one sequence of paint. Make sure each layer is dry before applying the next. If the paint is too watery, the fur will look very fine and will take a long time to obtain any depth. If the paint hasn't been thinned enough the fur will look dry and scruffy.

PAINTING INSTRUCTIONS:
GIRL BEAR:
1: CHECKERS
The checkers can be applied around the edge of the plaque using Deep Midnight Blue and a 5mm or ¼" checker stencil or the width of the No 6 flat brush. When using the stencil, load the stencil brush with a little Deep Midnight Blue, pounce the brush on some paper towel to remove excess paint. Hold the stencil firmly in place then stipple over the checkers applying the paint to a section at a time. Remove the stencil carefully; allow the paint to dry before moving onto the next section. Continue the checkers around the side edges.

2: BEAR Use the No 8 flat brush and Antique Gold to block in the bears head, upper arms and chest. Apply two to three coats or until opaque. Transfer on details of muzzle, inner ears eyes, nose and arms. Use the No 1 round brush and Soft Black to paint the eyes and Burnt Umber to paint the nose. Highlight the eyes with a tiny dot of Light Buttermilk to the top of each eye and a tiny dash in the left bottom corner of each eye.

3: (Use the pattern dots as a guideline for shading)
Use the No 10 flat brush to float Burnt Umber shadows around the muzzle, inner ears, under the chin, and on either side of chest where the arms sit. Deepen the shadow areas with further thin floats of Burnt Umber.

4: Fur: (Refer to painting the fur under Techniques)
Use the Chezza Fur brush to paint the fur on the head, ears, chest, and arms. Use fairly short strokes, as this bear is fairly small. The colour sequence for the fur, in order is French Vanilla, Burnt Umber, Antique Gold, Golden Straw, and French Vanilla. Repeat this sequence a second time omitting the first colour and begin with Burnt Umber. If you find that your floated shadow areas have diminished after painting the first sequence of fur then reapply them as necessary to ensure that the dimensional effect is not lost. Make sure you bring the fur over the edges of the hard outline of the bear. The muzzle fur is painted with one sequence after the second sequence of fur. Start with the area above and around the muzzle and pull the strokes away from you rather than towards you as this creates finer fur. Begin by turning the bear upside down and pulling the strokes from between the eyes working up to the top of the head. Turn the project to whichever angle you find the fur easiest to paint. Move onto the arms and body, and then come back to the next layer of fur on the face. This allows time for each layer of fur to dry. As you get to the last three layers, be more discerning as to the placement of the fur.

PAINTING INSTRUCTIONS for MINI PLAQUES

When painting the muzzle use shorter strokes than the face fur. Finally highlight the fur sparingly with Light Buttermilk.
Use Burnt Umber to tidy the nose and paint the mouth using the liner brush and nose colour. Highlight the nose by painting tiny vertical lines of Light Buttermilk.

5: RIBBON transfer details of the hair ribbon. Use Light French Blue to paint the ribbon and hearts.
Use Deep Midnight Blue to float shading on the loops and either side of the knot. Create the highlight shine down the centre of the ribbon loops and knot with a back to back float of Light Buttermilk.

6: Use the Fur Brush and Light Buttermilk to pull a little more fur over the bottom edge of the ribbon.

7: The lettering is painted with Light French Blue. Personalize the plaque with your own message.

BOY BEAR:
1: Paint the bear in the same manner as the girl bear. When you have finished painting his fur transfer on the hearts. Paint the hearts with Rookwood Red until opaque. When dry paint a smaller heart within the hearts using Hot Shots Fiery Red. Apply about three coats allowing the Rookwood Red to show around the outside. The lettering is painted with Light French Blue.

FINISHING: Apply 3 coats of DuraClear Satin Varnish to all areas of the plaques drying thoroughly between coats.

HAPPY PAINTING
Chezza

Copyright © 2001. This design is copyrighted by law and remains the property of the designer, Cheryl Bradshaw

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