Art Lesson: Using Q-tips to Paint Flowers.

Hey, there!

Welcome back.

 

I promised I would explain the simple process I used to add these Black Eyed Susans to my plant cart.

You could use this process for several different kinds of flowers like daisies or cone flowers...

but I chose the Black Eyed Susan because I love its simplicity and cheerfulness.

The household item I used to paint the flowers was Q-tips.

(I don't recommend using the generic brand of Q-tips.  The cotton is not as full or tightly compacted on the ends

and painting with them could prove disappointing.

Honestly, this is a guess on my part.

I just know that is how I feel about using them for their actual purpose.)

I used a couple of them with a color on each end,

but a color on each Q-tip is also a good choice if you don't want to be so careful not to get paint on yourself.

I seem to get paint on me no matter what I use, so I decided to just go ahead and use a different color on each end.

I used acrylic paints.

Starting with yellow, I dabbed the paint on and then made simple strokes to start each petal.

I went back on each petal and made a second stroke to make the petals a bit wider.

Using brown on the other end, I swirled a circle of it inside the petals.

Using a light yellow green, I then dipped another Q-tip...

and poked it into the brown, blending it a bit and then poking directly down into it to make a more spotted-looking middle.

Using another side of a Q-tip, I mixed a bit of the yellow and red to make yellowish orange

(I do generally try to keep my paints separate, but I had used the green for another project and made a mess of it, so I just used the palette as it was.

You, of course, are surely much neater, so please pretend this sea of green is not here).

I used the yellowish orange I'd mixed to dab on the yellow petals in areas where I wanted a bit more shading,

mostly in the center of the flowers.

(Do you see how it looks a bit more orange inside the real flower?)

I then set the orange Q-tip down and picked the yellow one back up.

I used the yellow to move the orange around some,

 to blend it.

Repeating these steps, I made more flowers, sometimes skipping the brown center to make a bud that was not fully opened.

Once there were enough flowers on the cart, I picked up a tiny brush and added stems and leaves.

Once everything was dried, I waited a day so the paint would be thoroughly sealed,
and I then applied a coat of Fiddes and Sons rugger brown wax to give it a slight antiqued look.





Q-tips made painting these flower petals easy, the cotton creating a texture that mimicked the flowers well for this simple crafting purpose.


Have you ever used a Q-tip or other household item to get a certain look in a painting?
I'd love to hear that I'm not the only one raiding the cupboards all in the name of art.


Thanks for stopping by and have a great rest of the week!


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