Free Decorative Painting Project

Surface:
This design is painted on an old 3-slat sled. Find an old one in an antique shop (should not be over $30), or get a new one and make it look old. Unfinished sleds can be purchased at your local craft or chain store. These are usually solid on top. Adjust the pattern in size for your sled, and paint it as a total design rather than 3 separate ones if you are working on a solid top.

DecoArt Americana
Burnt Umber	64	Cad Orange	14	Cad Yellow	10
Deep Midnight	166	Dioxazine Purple	101	Golden Straw	168
Hauser Light Green	131	Honey Brown	163	Lamp Black	67
Lavender	34	Marigold	194	Neutral Grey	95
Orchid	33	Plantation Pine	113	Pumpkin	13
Tangerine	14	Terra Cotta	62	True Blue	36
Uniform Blue	86	Winter Blue	190

Brushes:
Large flat for basecoating, Prudy's Best Mini Mop, Prudy's Best Mop, Prudy's Best Liner, Prudy's Best Floater, Prudy's Best Pouncer

To start:
1. Lightly sand your sled, then seal the wood and metal runners with All Purpose Sealer.
2. On your palette, have puddles of Dioxazine Purple, Deep Midnight, and Uniform Blue. Use the large flat to pit-pat these colors over the background. Do the same thing on the runners, except use only Dioxazine Purple and Deep Midnight.
3. Transfer the pattern and basecoat as follows:
      Winter Blue: snowmen
      Pumpkin: earmuffs
      Hauser Light Green: stocking cap
      Golden Straw: scarf
      True Blue: middle snowman's mittens
      Lamp Black: right hat
      Lavender: vest
      Marigold: right snowman's mittens, large stars
      NOTE: Snowmen are shaded with Uniform Blue first, then Deep Midnight, then Dioxazine Purple. To shade, sideload with the large flat, and pat-blend the color into the shading areas. This can look irregular for a snowy-icy appearance.

Painting The Design:
Left Snowman
1. To shade, float the Uniform Blue on the back of the head, left sides of his body segments, and under each segment. Also pounce it under the eyebrow line.
2. Float Deep Midnight on the top of this, but less. Tint with Dioxazine Purple by floating in the deepest shade areas.
3. Highlight the entire right side by pat-blending Titanium White. The cheek is floated Cadmium Orange. The eye is Lamp Black.
4. Base the carrot nose with Pumpkin. Float along the bottom with Cadmium Orange and across the top with Cadmium Yellow.
5. Use the Best Liner to pull the branch arms. Doubleload with Lamp Black and Burnt Umber. Highlight here and there where starlight would reflect with lines of Neutral Grey, then Cadmium Yellow.
6. Pounce the earmuffs with Cadmium Orange to shade on the left, and with Cadmium Yellow to highlight on the right. The wire is Driftwood. Line next to it with thinned Lamp Black. Line a Deep Midnight shadow below it on the snowman's head.
Middle Snowman
1. Shade as above details. Shading is across the bottom half of the face, across the top of the cheeks, under the nose, and both cheeks to define them.
2. Shade under the scarf, around the arms, under the mittens, and down the left side using the colors above.
3. Highlight by pat-blending Titanium White across the forehead, on the cheeks and chin, the arms, and right side of the body. The nose is done as above. Eyes, eyebrows, and smile are Lamp Black. Floated Cadmium Yellow highlights on the face (see color photo) makes the starlight.
4. Shade the hat by floating Plantation Pine around the face and down the back. The lines around the face are Plantation Pine as well (see line drawing). Highlight the hat with floats of Cadmium Yellow on the top.
5. The linework that makes the weave on the scarf is thinned Terra Cotta. Float Tangerine on both sides of the overlapped scarf tail. Fringe is Golden Straw.
6. The snowman's left mitten is shaded with Deep Midnight where it goes behind the other. Float Winter Blue in stripes on the cuffs, then line the ribbing with Deep Midnight. Highlight these mittens with Electric Blue.
7. Flat Cadmium Yellow highlights to make the starlight.
Right Snowman
1. The shading is done as above details. Backs of the arms are shaded, and the right side of the body is shaded. The white highlights are pat blended on the left sides. Then add Cadmium Yellow starlight.
2. The nose is done as above, as are the eyes, and mouth.
3. Highlight across the front of the hat crown and paint the rim with Neutral Grey. The hatband is Golden Straw.
4. Float Dioxazine Purple on the vest under the hat, and around the arms. The ribbon on the back is Orchid, and the buckle is Neutral Grey.
5 Shade the mittens by floating Honey Brown around the right thumb and in the left palm. The ribbing is lined with Milk Chocolate.
NOTE: All snowmen are re-highlighted with Snowtex in the non-facial white highlight areas. Use your palette knife to scrape it into these areas. All Cadmium Yellow highlights are brightened with Scorching Yellow.
Stars
1. Go over the large stars with Scorching Yellow to brighten.
2. Lightly pounce the star's tracks with Cadmium Yellow and Titanium White. Individual small stars are simply 1-pounce stars using the same colors, and Prudy's Best Pouncer.
Lettering
1. Use Cadmium Yellow with Prudy's Best Liner to paint the lettering.
2. To brighten, go over it with Scorching Yellow.