I have been teaching all levels of decorative painting since 1989.
I hope these mini lessons will help you.

All instructions on the Decor Delights Web pages are copyrighted 1997  © Melinda Frewin

Floorcloth Basics

Floorcloths are a great surface in which to express yourself and your artwork.  This is your chance to paint BIG.  Get out your big brushes and get busy.  There are a few basics I would like to go over that may help you with your floorcloth.

• You can make your own by purchasing canvas, stapling it to an old work table or large board and basecoating it with gesso - at least two coats on each side.  When it's dry, be sure to hem your floorcloth.  You can hem it either before you paint or after you paint, I have had success both ways.  If you hem it after you paint, you may have to touch up the folds, the paint may tend to crack.  Hem by either sewing or gluing.

• Purchase already primed and cut floorcloths from an art supply store.  I like to use Fredrix Floor Cloth Canvas.  Go to Dick BlickArt Supplies and type this number 07307-1005in the search box.  Then click on the link Dick Blick gives you.

• Many thin coats of paint is better and more flexible than a few heavy coats of paint.  Heavier coats may crack. 

• The more you prime with gesso or basecoat your floorcloth, the better the chance of it laying flat.  I have a few floorcloths that have "waves" in them.  I found that the longer they lay flat, the flatter they get, and the more paint and/or varnish I have on them, the flatter they tend to lay as well.  I have also found that hemmed floorcloths lay flatter than non-hemmed.

• The more coats of varnish you put on the floorcloth, the more durable it becomes.  Why ruin all your painting?  Just varnish, varnish, varnish.  Choose a waterbased, polyurethane and look for the words non-yellowing.

• Store the floorcloth flat or loosely roll up with the paint side out.

• Clean with mild dish soap, warm water and a soft cloth.

• NEVER - fold the floorcloth, NEVER - use the floorcloth on carpeting

• NEVER - worry about walking on your floorcloth, that is what it is meant for - art for your feet!

Dry Brushing

Every artist dry brushes differently and with different brushes.  My beginner lesson will hopefully be helpful to you.  Mostly, this is how I drybrush in my classes, books and pattern packets.

I like to use old scruffy brushes, the older and scruffier, the better!  I also like to use the really inexpensive natural bristle round brushes.  The bristles look light tan or light beige.  I have used the white nylon bristles in the past, and they work fine, but I just find the natural bristles to work better for me.  Why not try out some different brushes of your own and see what brush you prefer.

To me, dry brush means a dry brush.  I use a brush that is dry, no water or moisture at all.  Here are some of my tips:

• Use old brushes or brushes you use only for drybrushing.

• Dry bristles

• Use light touch on your project.

• Drybrush for highlights and shades.

Load your dry brush with paint on the tip.  Remove excess paint on paper towel.  Remember, it is always better to be too light or too little, you can always add more. You can always go over the area again and again until you are happy with the results.  It can get frustrating trying to cover up or remove a big blob of paint from your project.  Using a light touch, brush according to the direction of your object - trees would drybrush up and down, fence rails (not posts) drybrush left to right, or if you are left handed, right to left.  It usually works out great if you follow the shape of the object you are drybrushing.  Best wishes!

Brush Mixing

Brush mixing is a great technique to save you time and money while you are painting.  If you can brush mix, then you can create your own highlight colors and other colors without having to search for the perfect color or run to the store to buy a new bottle of paint.  I know the paint companies would rather you buy another bottle of paint, but why not mix it yourself.

I usually brush mix when I have a small area to work with.  If I have to paint a big area, I would actually mix paint with my palette knife and store in on a wet palette or in a little airtight container.

Here is how I brush mix - lets say that I am painting a leaf and I want to drybrush a highlight on the leaf.  For instance - I just finished basecoating my leaf with a round brush and medium value green.  I don't rinse the brush.  I pick up a little white or yellow (depending on what I have on my palette) on the bristles and with small strokes, blend these colors on my palette (in the same spot).  Now look, I have a light green color.

You could actually start the leaf with the darkest green, brush mix a little white to get a lighter green, then brush mix a little more white to get an even lighter green, keep doing this until you reach your desired highlight value.

I know you're probably laughing, and you can just grab your light value green bottle of paint, but sometime, someday, you may want to use brush mixing to save you some time and/or money.  It is easier to brush mix lighter, because white is so handy.  You can also mix darker values, but I would recommend a Color Theory Class first, just so you can be sure how to mix the darker values.  

With practice, brush mixing has become a great time saver for me.  I hope it will for you too.

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