Wish I could be in one of your classes BeBe. How beautiful is that? I love the dark background with the frosty breath! As usual your beards are a cause of jealousy with me. ha I've been practicing with that rake brush, but mine aren't nearly as wispy as yours. Have a good time tomorrow! Hope you are feeling up to it after all your problems, but I'm sure you wouldn't commit to it if you weren't feeling better. Lucky person who goes home with this door prize! ~Anj

WOW! That is gorgeous!!

Boy, we had a great painting day. Of course, I didn't finish my ornaments because I was the main helper. We had door prizes throughout the day - everyone (all 18 people) got at least one prize and several received more. We gave away paint brushes, paints, wood, tin candle snuffers, pink hats, books, videos, and the last two door prizes were a free seminar with me in September and the above Santa - I should have put it up for bid, would have made a lot of money for the club. We had so much food and we talked and laughed as much as we painted. Our club is celebrating its 32nd year so I made a Hummingbird cake - it must have been good because there was none left.

I have another ornament paint in next Saturday in Mobile (I am a member of four chapters right now). Haven't decided what to teach but I need to start working on it now.!1

Anj, I am 100% better after those terrible stones. I was so happy to be back at the meetings since I missed several in June.

Thanks, Krafty. I love painting Santas - my husband wanted to know if it was suppose to be female because of the rose. I just don't paint old wrinkled Santas very well. Besides, I needed to keep it simple because several members did not know how to float or double load very well. But even though it is simple I try to teach a little about color and form. Of course, the new ones are so excited but I know the minute they walk out the door they have forgotten much of what I said.

Thanks again,
B

Oh, I am so envious of your darling Santa! You paint all of them so well, but the rose and the breath and the beard on this one just made me let out a big sigh. :o) I just love everything about it.

Yes, you should sell door prize tickets--everyone would be buying multiple tickets to win a prize like this.

So would you share with us any "secrets" or "tricks" you have for using the rake brush? Do you pull the paint from the side of the puddle? Do you work it in a bit? Do you brush some paint off on a paper towel before you stroke the beards? Do you just barely touch the tips of the brush to the project? I have got to practice with my rake brushes to see if I can get the light "fluffy" look that you get--I just love how your's always look.

Glad you are feeling all better and back to doing what you enjoy most.

Luvs

Hi Luvs, I am more than happy to tell you anything I know about painting. It took some practice when I first started using the rake/comb brush. I rinse my brush in water and lightly touch it to the paper towel. I pull some paint away from the puddle and thin it down with the water already in my brush. You want it to be a little bit thin but not watery. If I am doing a beard I usually start from the bottom and pull up towards the face. As you pull up towards the face the paint thins out so you don't have a blob of white right next to the skin. I use a very light touch. If you press too hard the little hairs on the tip of the brush will not work, you will get the paint coming off the thicker part of the brush. On the picture you can see the very thin whispy hairs and then you see brighter thicker hairs. So I start off with the tip of the brush and then to show the curls, I pressed harder.

I think I have said this before but I think it is important to "feel" your brush when you are painting. That is why a lot of times I will take my brush and practice the strokes on a sheet of paper, I concentrate on the pressure I am making with the brush and I am thinking where the brush is going. I think your brain retains that so when I actually put the brush to the surface my brain says - "Oh, this is familiar, I can do this!" OK, that may sound really silly but I am a very logical person and it made sense to me. It is a lot like golfers or atheletes visualizing their golf stroke and where the ball is going to go. I think the same can be applied to painting.

So before I actually put paint to the surface, I not only visualize the painting process, I will use my dry brush and go over the surface as if I was actually painting. When I teach I try to do the same with the student. I go over the entire process of how I painted the piece before I let them paint.

For instance. I took the Santa above and explained after basecoating the entire piece (which I did for them to save time - all 15 pieces) I took a square piece of old brown paper bag and sanded the surface to knock down the wood fibers and to make shading and highlighting easier. Then I started shading the face - reason being the face is under the hat and the beard. Then I take them through the beard process - the beard came next because the mustache is over the lip and beard and the ball of fur from the hat sits on top of the beard. But I have to paint the fur on the hat before I can paint the hair because the hair comes over the hat. I also explain about adding a bit of red to the grey for the the right side of the beard - it adds warmth and warm colors come forward. Then on the left side of the beard I added a touch of blue to the grey because cool colors recede.

I can't say for sure if my theory is correct because I paint what looks good to me. I have never taken color theory and I am sure someone out there that knows more than I do might say I have it all wrong.

Gosh, I can be so talkative. But you know how I can get when it comes to painting - I could go on and on because it makes me so excited. I talked to my friend this morning for almost two hours and it was all about painting. By the time we are through talking we are so inspired we head right to our studio even if only to paint an ornament.

Later,
B

Gorgeous and delightful!

Perhaps you could have another post about your clubs? I live in a small community and have been trying (unsuccessfully) in creating a club. I had over 20 interested people but only 3 attended the actual first meeting. In otherwords, they seem interested only in the benefits, not the work involved in actually getting to the point where there are benefits.

How does the club afford all those door prizes?

Thanks,
Rhonda

Rhonda, it is the same in all the clubs, you will have some who do all the work and others who sit back and enjoy it. Normally the Board (President, Vice President, etc) is a two year term - we requested volunteers for the board and no one volunteered so I am now on my third year as President. It looks like this may go on indefinitely. I really don't mind but as I told the members - there must be someone in the chapter who has a few good ideas they would like to share but no takers. At some of our meetings we only have 6 people attend because others have commitments. We always paint something after our meetings, a lot of times it is an ornament but next month we are painting holley on a berry basket. In September I will be painting my Wild Rose on a small wooden box. In November, I will be teaching a large Santa. So sometimes it is worth coming to the meeting.

Our club just celebrated our 32nd birthday. I have been a member 23 years and I am determined to keep it going. The Society of Decorative Painters started with just 22 people in 1972 and now has over 22,000 members so don't get discouraged. Starting off small has its advantage, you get to work out all the kinks.

Back in 1985 our club had stopped meeting so three of us decided to get it back together and we started holding meetings again. At first there were only about 8-10 people attending the meetings. We charged everyone a yearly fee of $10 and when we held classes, we charged a small fee for that. Slowly our membership grew and so did the bank account. At one point in the early 90's we had over 100 members - but painting is not like it use to be so we now have about 28 members. When we have a national teacher in we have a standard fee of $45 for 2 days of painting with the national teacher. But some teachers charge so much that we have to raise the fee so we can meet the expense. We don't usually make any money on seminars. We held auctions every year and made any where from $300 - $1000. When one of our members teach a class, part of the fee of $15 per student - $13 per student goes to the teacher, $2 per student goes to the club.

And since we were celebrating our birthday at the ornament paint in, the only thing anyone had to pay was for the packets which included a ornament, written instructions and a photo, - normally $1 - $2. The door prizes were donated by the members. Several of us went through our painting items and found things we had purchased but never painted. Brushes were picked up when Michael's had a sale of $1.99 for Soft Grips. We always have extra paint from classes (DecoArt will often provide the paints for a class if you call Rosemary and ask for them). Dollar Tree often has wood signs or boxes so I picked up several wooden stars and hearts (about 7"x9") and donated them. We put the items in paper bags so no one could see what was in the bag and throughout the day we called out the numbers. Several of our members were very generous.

This year we are trying something different. We plan to be in a large craft show. The members who are participating in the show will split the cost of the booth and 20% of the sales will go to the club. The members keeps the rest. The main objective is to get the word out about painting and our club so we will do demos and we will have brochures and flyers describing our club and how they too can learn to paint. Hopefully we will get a few new members.

If there is anything I can do to help you or if you have any questions, please post, and don't give up! Also, check out the website - www.societyofdecorativepainters.org. I think they have some info about clubs/chapters.

B

great info. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer. I am printing out your remarks as a reminder for this fall to try again!

Rhonda

Hello I am new. I think your Santa is beautiful!! I liked reading all the information you had to share.
colorgal

Welcome, Colorgal. Thank you for the nice comment. I think you will find we have some really great painters on this site. It is amazing to see all the things they do. We would love to see what you have painted - and don't be shy, on this forum everyone is appreciated for the work they do.
B

Looks like no time for me to paint this week until Thur. or Friday. I'm really wanting to practice a bit with my rake brush following your helpful tips. Thank you so much for taking the time to explain that. I would never have thought about turning the piece upside down to get that soft airy look. Maybe I can get a little time to play with it before bedtime one night.

Glad to have you joining in Colorgal. As Painting Fool said, we love to see everyone's painting, and this group is very supportive and friendly.

Luvs

B. I love your Santa and your instructions were wonderfully clear. Now I was wondering do you have a pattern or tell me where to get the pattern for it. I love your style of painting and would love to paint one of your Santa's. Thanks
DJ

DJ,
The pattern is a Cheri Rol packet (www.cherirol.com). I painted it a little different than Cheri. I didn't use her colors and I changed the hat and the hair a bit. She has a mini lamp packet "A Twinkle in His Eye" that I purchased at Heart of Ohio Tole Convention last August. I used the pattern (can't post the pattern - copyrights you know) but I had to adjust it to fit the heart I was teaching. My style of painting is not as exact as some painters. If I am going to teach it I have to keep it as simple as possible so I limit the colors I use and the steps I take to achieve a finished product. If I paint for myself I will have all the colors and lots of shading, highlights in just the right places and I will spend hours painting it. Lots of times I will look through painting books to get an idea of what I want to do. I can draw just about anything so I am lucky in that respect.

You have to look up her website, she has so many beatufiul things on it. And she has seminars in the Indiana area you might be able to attend if you are in that area.

I hope to see some of your paintings posted soon. If there is anything I can help you with, let me know.
B