Transcripts
1. Introduction: Hello, everyone.
Welcome to this class. We're going to create a
stunning decorative piece using both colors
and free shapes. And if you're someone
who loves to create unique decorative objects for your home, this
class is for you. My name is Daniel Ascii. I'm an architect, garden
designer, and artist. Doing artistic activities is so much more than
my favorite hobby. It's my connection with myself. This makes me feel happy
and full of inspiration. In this class, we are
creating together a beautiful and lively piece of the core that will boost
the mood in your home. It's a piece inspired by a large tropical
foliage combining water color or gas together
with wax crayons, collage, and another usual material, a piece of colored
electrical wire, which will bring a sense
of movement to this piece, and we'll be able to change
its shape whenever we want. The aim of this class is to
let our intuition guide us choosing the colors
and shapes in the painting without
controlling the result, but rather letting
ourselves be involved and surprised by the magical
effects of the paintings. We'll use wet on white technique in a very easy and free way and we'll also create
beautiful textures using new color wax creons. It's meant to be a fun
and enjoyable moment. The techniques are
very basic and simple, even if you are beginner, you'll be able to follow along. At the end of this class, you'll have all
the skills to make other pieces, creating
new compositions. Okay, so thank you very
much for being here, and let's get started.
2. Class Project: Your class project is to create your own decorative foliage
using the class techniques. You can make your painting in the same colors of the
class or in different ones. But I encourage you to stick only to two
colors at most as I'm doing in the
class because it's easier and still
interesting and beautiful. I'm using wash
paints in the class. But if you don't have
wash paint, no problem. You can use water colors, and this will work
very well too. Lastly, I would love
to see your work, please post it here in
the project gallery, and you can also write your questions so I can
help you if you need. Let's get to the material.
3. Materials: I'm going to show you all the
materials for this class. This is the watercolor
brush number nine, HB pencil for sketching. This is the watercolor brush
I'm using in the class, but you can use watercolors, which also works very well. Masking tape. This is watercolor crayon
from Caron Dash brand. It's very soft and
saturated. I like it a lot. But you can also use regular
crayons. Water container. Regular crayons, also for
sketching and testing colors. Scissors, watercolor
paper for painting. This one is a tree size, but you can use a four, copy paper for sketching, cutting pliers, flexible colored electrical wire like this one. Hot glue. A thick paper to make
the leave templates, any kind will do very well. That's all the material
you're going to use.
4. Sketching : I always start my project sketching by making
some sketches. This helps me to
explore the shape, the colors, the
size of the piece. I do this in a very loose way. I use whatever I
have on the table, an HB pen seal, colored crayons, wax
crayons, whatever. The sketches help us
to structure the work. It's worth spending in a
few minutes on this stage. It's also a fun
moment of creation. Something to do in a
relaxed and loose way. I'm going to show
you now some of the sketches I made
for this class. It can be an HB pen
sell to make strokes, colored crayons, And then I can paint it to
create the color ways. I love to use wax crayons. You can even use
the school ones. They're cheap, and it's a very practical
and quick way to create colorful
shapes and patterns. They are thick, which
means almost no precision, and that's good because
it helps me focusing on a general look and not on the details when working
on color studies.
5. Painting the Watercolour: Well, I'm going to
start the painting, but before I paint on
the watercolor paper, I like to test the colors first. And for that, I use copy paper because it's cheap and works
well for testing colors. So let's get started. These are the guash paints, very similar to water colors, only more saturated,
and I'm going to start with this
lime green. I like it. Now, this emerald
green, beautiful two. This next one is
malachite. I love it too. Now, this one, cobalt blue. I'm going to put the paints here so that they're
clearly visible. Let's see now this
ultramarine blue. I have this beautiful
combination of colors from the darkest
blue to the lime green. But I'm only going
to use two colors. I want something very simple, and I'm going to enhance the watercolor painting
with textures. I'm starting to paint
the water colors. I have this rubber board that
I love to use water jar, the same one I was using before and another
one with clean water, brush, masking tape,
and a paper towel. This water color
paper is a tree size. I will use one sheet of the size and one sheet, A four size. But you can use
whatever you have. I'm going to take all
sides of the paper with the masking tape as I'm going to use a lot of
water in this work. It will be wet on wet technique. I'll start by
applying the water of the paper, this clean water. The paper is wet.
You can take a look. The paint will spread
through the water, and even if there is an excess of water,
there is no problem. That would create
beautiful stains, and this works things
are very welcome. It's even more beautiful. So I will do a little by little, so the paper doesn't dry out. I will do it in parts. You can see the moisture
here. Look at the difference. I am activating the
paint here with water, and then I'm just
going to apply it. I'm putting more water because
it's already drying out. It's a quick work to do. You can't let the paper dry out. You can't let the paper dry out. You have to dilute the
layers of paint with the water and not have a
sharp edge between the. It has to be a gradual effect. I'm going with the blue now, and I am playing it
over the green paint while this is still wet so
that they blend together. I'm making some stats
here. So pretty. I'm watching the paper
now with the blue water, and that's fine for
this work because I'm covering the whole
paper with this color. And you can use a bigger
brush if you have one. This one is number nine. So I'm going to apply
a lot of water here. I'm going with the green now
and if it's getting to dark, that's great because the
watercolor dries lighter, so it's always more
pale in the end. You see that I'm not
following any pattern. I make different
movements with the brush, dripping, making
straight strokes, curves in a very random way because this will create
effects in the painting, like stains, marks that will bring visual
richness to the piece. I want the painting
to be regular, having areas with
flows with areas. And all these will create different patterns
throughout the work, and at the end, once it's dry, I will cut out several small
leaves in this painting, and each leaf will
have a different look, and that's exactly what I want. It's going to be
beautiful and even more beautiful after I have textured the leaves
with the crayon. I can always add more water if I want to have more stains. This green is more
pigmented than the blue, so it's more saturated,
and that's okay. So I'm painting
little by little, keeping a certain speed. And guys, you can
paint without fear. You can't go wrong
with this painting. Any brush stroke you
make is right because this work is totally
free without any rules. The only rule is to create
effects, contrasts and stains. It's a painting for us to relax, to get involved with colors, with our intition and
simply observe and admire what the water colors reveal to us as the paper dries out. It's a joy, not to be
control of everything. Okay. I'm getting to the end, just a few tops. That's it. It's wonderful, full of stains and marks. The paper is all wrinkled, and I'm going to let it
dry with the masking tape. It will stretch back as it dries out and the colors
will be more pale, so you can push the intensity of the colors when you
paint without any fear. Look how cd the paper is. I'll use the hair dryer to
speed up the drying process. Now I'm going to paint the
other sheet, the smaller one. I'll use the same
colors as before. I'm making two paints because I want to be able to cut
out a good number of leaves to make the
composition so that it's big and long enough with
several pairs of leaves. I'm going to do exactly as I did in the
previous painting, creating stains, trying to
make the color very dark. I think it's so wonderful
to see the painting spread. I love those open spaces
between the paint. It makes the color
stand out even more. It gives the effect of a swimming pool water
or the Caribbean Sea. I'm using a lot of
water in this painting, even creating a few spots
where the paint accumulates, but that's okay to be
fine. The paper is. Okay, I have finished it. It looks beautiful. The colors are more saturated. Now it's drying and I'm going to use the hair dryer here too.
6. Making the Leaves: The paper is totally dry
all straight, perfect. Time to remove the masking tape, always pulling slowly
from the sides. This lesson, we are going
to cut out the leaves, and for that, I'm going to
make two paper templates. I'm going to use the
paper cover of this block because it's thicker and
better for making templates. I'm going to draw two
long leaves very loosely, one bigger and the other one smaller and cut
out my templates. Look, the water color is
the shade of my bracelets. Now I see where the
inspiration came from. I love the bracelets. Well, I'm going to cut many
leaves out of this painting. So first, I make the
outlines using the template. But I'm going to do
it on the back side. So if I make any mistake, I won't ruin my painting. It's all very simple. I place the template
and make the outline. And just cut them out. They look so beautiful. Well, all the leaves are ready. Look how wonderful
they turned out. The colors and stains
are beautiful. I could even leave them
like this all blue, but I really want to make
the textures to bring more contrast and interest
to the whole composition. Before I move into
the next session, you can save these scraps
of paper from the cutout. There are several
collage classes here on Skillshare where we can use
this beautiful material. Now, let's start the text.
7. Creating the Textures: This is the electric wire I'm going to use as the
same for the leaves. So I want to make the texturing of the leaves in
this reddish color, which will be beautiful
with this wire. I've got this arndash
red pencil here. Let's see how it looks
over the blue water color. I think it's a big dark. Now, let's see this
neo color crayon. The crayon is very soft, bold color, thick strokes. I like it a lot. The color is very close to the
red color of the wire. Now, let's see this red cons
I don't think it's nice. I tried the yellow crayon too, but the one that looks
best is the red crayon. I'll go with that. I can start making the
textures on the leaves. I'm going to draw
some very loose lines and look how this color
stands out against the blue. That's exactly what I want. I use this copy paper
to protect the table, so I can draw more loosely, going beyond the
edge of the leaves, doing more natural movements. This shade of red, orange works super well
alongside the blue. This will highlight both colors, making this piece super
vibrant and vivid. So for this texturing, I'm going to make various
marks, do, lines, different things on
each leaf without planning anything in a very
free and intuitive way, like I did in the water color. I want the leaves to
be all different. This will give this piece a very interesting
and catching look. Oops, I broke the
cra. But it's okay. Cons are great for this kind of work because they have
very saturated color. They are, so it's easy to create striking shapes without being overly careful in
a very loose way, but with a powerful
visual effect. I think I'm going to make
some stripes on this one. I've already got many
different textures here. It's looking so great. This reminds me of a
swimming pool water. I'm going to create some
more organic shapes here following this
watercolor pattern. Those watercolor stains,
they are just wonderful. I really like this pattern here. For this one, I'm
going with some dots. This one will resemble
a tree truck. Very nice. These textures brought a lot of interest to the piece and
gave them a different look. I've finished. I've got
various different leaves. They're all beautiful. I love the contrast between
the blue and the red. You can clearly see that
this composition is going to look very nice with
the color of the wire.
8. Shaping the Foliage: Okay, I'm going to
build the final piece. I have all the leaves
here on the table, the red electric wire, and I'm going to glue the leaves to the wire
with the hot glue. I have all the materials here. The wire, the leaves,
the cutting plier, the hot glue masking tape and the copy paper to
protect the table. Before gluing, I'm going to
set the look of the piece. I'm just going to put all the
things aside a little bit. For the size of the wire, this is good around 70
centimeters more or less. We don't need to
be precise here. I'll leave it here. I'm going to take care
of the leaves now, sort them out according
to the patterns. This helps me to have a clear idea before I lay
them out along the wire. Now I'll put them
aside and start creating the composition
before gluing, so I can do the work in
a more structured way. I'll place the leaves
in pairs on the table, seeing what looks best. I want them to be very mixed. I like the way it looks. This is the sequence
I'm going to do, and you can take a
photo at this point if you like to help you to follow the look
you have created. So I'm cutting the
wire now and I'm living a extra fingers. So I can make the hook at the end after I have glued
everything together. Turning on the hot glue. Guys, I had to
rearrange the leaves on the table because there was a little accident,
they flew off. So they may look a little bit different now, but that's okay. Before gluing, I'm going to put a piece of masking tape on the top of the wire to set
the limit of my gluing area. So I have this link to
do the whole thing. One important thing. I'm
going to count the pairs. Here I have ten pairs of leaves. But I'd like to have
and number to make it easier to spread
them out more evenly. So I'm going to remove the tenth pair and
keep nine pairs, and I'm going to collect them mole and do the work
little by little. I'll start by gluing the leaves
on the ends of the wire, then the center, and then I will spread the remaining
leaves along the wire. I always put this copy paper underneath so that the glue
doesn't stick to the table. I'll start with the first leaf, applying the glue to the tap
and stick it to the wire. It's very easy to
burn the finger, so I'm using a pen to help
me pressing the glue down. I have to say I burned my finger a lot
with this hot glue. I will do the next one You don't need much glue. If the paper sticks to
the back of the leaves, you just pull it off and
it won't be visible. Here's how the backs. Now, let's glue the top. I'm going to turn it over to apply the glue on
the back side now. Before turning it over, again, you have to wait for the
glue to dry completely. You must have a bit of
patience. But it's quick. That's why I love
using this glue. I'm going to do the same thing
on the leaves at the top and I have to do this for all
the leaves in the project. Now I'm going to make
the center of the wire. I'm starting on the
back side this time. There is no right sequence. I do what feels more practical. I'll fold back this white tip at the end of the
gluing process. Everything is glued on the
front and on the back side. Okay. I'm going to place
the rest of the leaves and I always like to
start in the center. It's easier. Always gluing on both sides. Now it's time to do
the finishing touches, taking care of those
white teeth like these. I'm folding them back
and gluing them too. Remember to use a pen to protect your fingers. That's it. The work is done. I'm going
to make the hook at the end, and this is very easy. The wire is very flexible, lop it around your finger and hide the tip
behind the leaf. It's a good finish. Okay,
I think it's so beautiful. It looks so vivid. Now, I just need
to put this off.
9. Decorating the Wall: We've come to the
end of the class and it's time to
decorate the wall. But first, let's take a look
at this beautiful piece. It's a long and vibrant
tropical foliage in blue shade and
look at the textures, this red color brings out the
shades of blue even more. It's really nice.
Also, the movement, thanks to the electrical wire, which has the
perfect color also. Let's put it here. I'm so
happy to hang this piece here. It's going to bring a lot of color and joy to my living room. It's also super light. Just a tiny nail will do. You don't need anything else. I'm very happy with that. I have to say that
I made another one because I think that certain
things look better in pairs. They complement each other. I made another one in
this other blue shade. I'm changing here. I have
two nails tiny tiny. And I'm putting it here, so look how beautiful. This darker blue shade and
this lighter blue shade, they bring interest
to each other. They work super well together. I really like it. Super happy. And whenever I like, I
can adjust the shape of the piece like making some curve here or here
or having it straight. It's so versatile and practical. I love it. How do you
like this the core. I want to thank you for
taking this class with me. I hope you have enjoyed and
I also hope you have made a beautiful piece of
the core for your home, and the way you love it more green or in
blue, doesn't matter. Last thing. I have other courses here on skill
share in the same theme, home the core made by ourselves. If you want to
take a look, maybe you'll find something
that you like. Lastly, leave me your
review for this class. This will help me a lot. I hope to see you. Thank you.
Daniela Aschieri, Architect and Garden designer, Artist
