Here is the chart for the Pastel Pansies.

Click for the pattern for Pastel Pansies. CLICK
Click for the instructions for Pastel Pansies. CLICK

Pastel Pansies
By Carol van Tol

Supplies

DecoArt SoSoft Fabric Paint:

Burnt Sienna                  White                                  Antique Gold
Cadmium Yellow             Alizarin Crimson                  Soft Red
Dioxazine Purple            Primary Blue                        Lamp Black
Avocado Green               Hauser Light Green

½ yard of lightweight muslin fabric
stiff ½” angle brush
10/0 liner brush

I painted this design on a square piece of muslin fabric. The original is going to be one of the squares of a quilt that our local painting chapter is raffling off to earn money for a local art scholarship. You could also use it for a pillow or frame it . This design would look great on one of my paper lampshades using comparable colors in acrylics. The painting technique is the same for both.

Painting Instructions

When painting this design, remember to leave the unpainted fabric as the highlight area. The paint is picked up on the long edge of the angle brush then lightly blended on your palette. Apply the paint only in the darkest areas of the design, then drag it out onto the lighter areas leaving no paint in the lightest areas. I like to move the paint around as if you are sweeping the floor – push and pick up the brush. And “sweep” the paint around. I call this “walking the paint”.

The chisel edge of the brush is dragged to make the dark center veins in the petals and it is also used to make the streaks on the outside petals of the flowers. The base color is used as the main fill-in color. The shading color in each pansy is used to separate the petals. (Don’t forget to leave some fabric for highlights!)

Transfer the design by taping the line drawing to a window. Center the fabric over the drawing and trace the design with the water soluble pen.

Use the following colors for each pansy:

Yellow Pansies – Base with cadmium yellow, shade with antique gold, add burnt sienna and very little black streaks in the centers. Make the streaks darkest in the very center. Tiny cadmium yellow dots are tapped in the middle with one soft red dot in the center.

Blue Pansy – Pick up a little dioxazine purple and some primary blue, softly blend on the palette. This is your base color. Shade with primary blue. The center streaks are black. Tiny cadmium yellow dots are tapped in the middle with one soft red dot in the center.

Soft Red Pansy & Buds – Base with soft red. Shade with alizarin crimson. Drag burnt sienna and black center streaks. Tiny cadmium yellow dots are tapped in the middle with one soft red dot in the center.

Dark Red Pansy & Bud – Only a portion of the pansy shows. It is in the very center of the design behind other flowers. The bud is at the very top of the design. Base in the darkest areas only with alizarin crimson. Remember to leave your highlights!

Add white highlights in the brightest areas of the petals (usually along the outside ruffled edges.)

Leaves – Fill your brush with various amounts of avocado green and Hauser light green. Add a little more water to help the paint flow better. Paint light and dark leaves. The more water you use, the lighter the leaves will be. Experiment on a scrap of fabric first if you wish. Add a few watered tints of burnt sienna and cadmium yellow to some of the leaves. Use the chisel edge of the angle brush to drag the avocado green vein lines. If you need darker veins, add a little burnt sienna to the avocado green.

Butterfly – Mix primary blue and white to make a very light blue. This is the base color of the butterfly. Keep some light areas for highlights. Use the 10/0 liner brush to paint the tiny lamp black veins in the butterfly’s wings and to fill in the body of the butterfly. Add a few tints of cadmium yellow in the back wing.

After the paint has dried completely do the following step:

This last step to painting the design is to add extremely watered down tints of cadmium yellow, alizarin crimson, soft red, primary blue and dioxazine purple to the background of the design. You want these to be very soft. Tap the watered down paint in a slip slap motion outward from the design so you get a soft watercolor look background. You may want to practice this step on a scrap of fabric also.

Remove any transfer lines with clean water.

© 2003 Home & Heart Design Studio and Ampere Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Product: Pastel Pansies
Carol vanTol's Website: http://www.vantolehouse.com
Painting and Website Questions Painter@MyPaintingIdeas.com
Project originally featured in the September 18, 2003 issue of MyFree.com's MyPaintingIdea.com.