Woodberry Designs

Original decorative painting projects by Kerryanne English

Diva Canvas

2010

Please read all instructions before beginning.

General Supplies
8 x 10 gallery wrapped canvas
Tracing paper,
Grey graphite (or Saral) paper,
Stylus,
Paper towel,
Sharp scissors or craft knife,
Mod Podge (Matt),
Vintage papers eg. sheet music, page from an old book or ledger.
Various scrapbooking papers and embellishments.
Paint
2oz Americana acrylic paint:
Diva: Flesh Tone, Shading Flesh, Rookwood Red, Gooseberry Pink, Titanium White,
Soft Black, Lamp Black, Espresso, Burnt Umber, Sable Brown, plus colour of your
choice for eyes.
Background: Light Mocha, Khaki Tan, Titanium White, plus a colour of your choice to
suit the paper you have chosen for the dress.
DecoArt Matt Spray Varnish.
Brushes
1/2 flat brush,
No 0, 2 & 4 round brush,
shader brush.
Preparation
Trace the design from the pattern sheet onto tracing paper.
Techniques
Side Load/wash: Dampen shader brush with clean water. Dip point of brush into
paint and blend on the palette. The paint should not travel completely across the
brush. The paint should appear darkest at the loaded corner and gradually fade to
clear water.
This technique is used for all shading and highlighting in this project.
Painting Instructions
For this canvas I chose a limited palette of fairly neutral colours that would go well
with most other colours. I also introduced one colour that matched the scrapbooking
paper I had chosen for the dress, in this case Indian Turquoise; you would of course
use a colour that matches the paper you have chosen.
First step is to prepare the background of the painting. Remember that this is not the
finished artwork but we still want to create an interesting multi layered background.
Basecoat the entire canvas, front and sides, with 2 smooth coats of Light Mocha and
leave to dry.

For the next layer I used a couple of pieces of ripped vintage paper (music
manuscript and a small ripped piece from an old book), that I adhered to the canvas
with Mod Podge. Note: When working with Mod Podge, it is easier to position your
item on the canvas if you paint both the surfaces with Mod Podge.
The next layer is applying colour and shape to the canvas. On your palette, place a
small amount of Light Mocha, Khaki Tan, Titanium White and the colour you have
chosen to compliment your dress colour. I used Indian Turquoise. Use these colours
in a variety of ways to create interesting layers (remember to allow some of the
vintage paper to show through). You could try:
making abstract patterns with sponges, netting, bubble-wrap or bottle tops,
using stencils,
scratching and scraping into paint just before it dries to reveal part of the layer
below and to add texture,
fly specking,
apply paint with a wad of crinkled up paper to create texture,
blotting still-wet paint with tissues or sponges,
paint a wash of watered down colour over some parts.
When your background has dried, use the pattern tracing and the graphite paper to
transfer the Diva design to the canvas.
Block in: face and hand using Flesh Tone; hair using Espresso.
Face: Use Shading Flesh to shade: hand, top
of face, under chin and chest area, sides of
nose and eyelid crease. Blush the cheeks with
a subtle side-load of Shading Flesh and then
further enhance the blush with a wash of
Rookwood Red.
Highlight above the right eye (on the brow),
under each eye, down the nose and along the
chin line using Titanium White.
Base the eyes with Titanium White. When dry,
paint the pupil in your choice of eye colour.
Place a dot of Lamp Black in the centre for the
pupil. Add the white highlight dot using
Titanium White. Outlining will be done later.
Paint lips using Gooseberry Pink and shade
with Rookwood Red. Add a tiny highlight to the right side of both upper and lower lips
using Titanium White.
Strengthen shading under the chin with Soft Black.
Hair: Shade hair in a ripple type effect using Burnt Umber. Make sure you shade in
close to the neck and ears to create depth. Highlight using Sable Brown. Add some
watery ripple lines using Sable Brown.
3

Dress: Using the pattern tracing and graphite paper, transfer the dress outline to a
piece of scrapbooking paper. Cut out the dress using a pair of sharp scissors or a
craft knife.
Adhere the dress to the diva using Mod Podge. Shade the edges of the dress to give
it more dimension the colour you use for shading will depend on what paper you
have chosen. If in any doubt, use Soft Black.
Bird: Cut the bird from scrapbook paper or old book page. I made the wing using a
small heart punch and matching paper but you could easily cut the heart with
scissors or even rip a wing shape. Adhere both pieces with Mod Podge.
Outline all areas using Lamp Black that has had a little water added to it to make it
flow easier. You will have more control of the brush if you hold the brush
perpendicular to your work and paint just with the very tip of the brush.
Decide on what positive affirmation youd like to put on the dress. There are some
great websites available if you cant think of any. Its best to keep the saying short
and simple. I used: Dreams soar on the wings of imagination.
Type the affirmation on the computer and print out at the appropriate size. Notice in
the one I chose to use, I made the main word Dreams larger for more emphasis. I
tend to use typewriter fonts which are easier to read. If you dont have anything
appropriate, try www.dafont.com where they have thousands of wonderful free
downloadable fonts.
A ripped edge on the word cut-outs creates more visual interest. The words can be
either ripped out individually or in sequences. Once you have your printed affirmation
and any other embellishments you want to use, adhere to the canvas with Mod
Podge. Apply more Mod Podge over the words to protect them. When dry, float
some Burnt Umber under the words to create a shadow.
I used some flowers created with a punch to further enhance my Diva but you could
use any other embellishments.
Finishing
Sign and date the canvas.
Seal canvas with several coats of matt spray varnish.
Attach a hanger to the back of your canvas.

Woodberry Designs
2010 - Intended for personal use.
Mass productivity, photocopying and all types of mechanical reproduction is prohibited.
Pattern is not for use by teachers without the artists consent.