Transcripts
1. Class Introduction: Hello, and welcome,
creative friends. I'm thrilled to have you join this festive wood
ornament painting class. Today, I suggest making wooden ornaments for
your Christmas tree. We will use acrylic paint to
decorate small wooden disc. I will provide you with
IDs for elements to paint and share my tips for painting on ornaments with ease. This **** is quite
fun and simple, and the ornaments will still
be colorful and decorative. It's a great way to add a personal touch to
your Christmas tree. I'm Eileen Juli, and I am
an artist and a teacher. I love to paint landscape, floral and botanical scenes. And today, we are
going to embark on a joyful journey of creating beautiful Christmas
tree ornaments. This class is open to everyone. No prior painting
knowledge is necessary.
2. Supplies You’ll Need: Before we start,
let's quickly go over the supplies you will need for today's
painting adventure. Of course, the wooden ornaments. They are round. They
already have a hole in it. Acrylic paints, paintbrushes,
one very fine one, a small wash brush, and a round brush
number four, a palette, water containers, a clear acrylic sealer to protect and finish the
painted ornaments, paper towels for wiping brushes
and cleaning up spills, reference images,
inspiration elements, a needle and a ribbon or
a yarn, and a paper clip.
3. Design Ideas for Your Ornaments: As you prepare your workspace, I want to share a
few design ideas to spark your imagination. Feel free to draw
inspiration from cherished holiday memories or explore classic
Christmas themes. The goal is to infuse your ornaments with
a personal touch, making each one a unique and meaningful addition to
your holiday decor. I'll show you easy
to make drawings and sketches with twigs
and berries, a fir branch, various leaves and small
branches, holly leaves, of course, a fir tree, a candy cane, a Christmas
stocking, and a hat. These are just a few
examples among many others. I'll also show you how to draw snowy landscape on this
small log surface. You can gather ideas before
deciding what you'll paint. The idea is to create
several different ornaments and here is a
little tip for you. I prefer to paint both
sides of the ornament each time because the
small wood slices tend to spin on the
Christmas tree, and it's safer to have
painted both sides.
4. Sketching Ideas on Paper: In this sequence, I'll
show you how to paint and create elements that could
go on the ornaments. You can choose the one
you like or practice a bit before starting as
I do in these examples. This helps to loosen
up your hands, and the act of
creating and painting can also inspire new ideas. So I recommend making
sketches before going directly onto
the wooden ornaments. Of course, you can
also choose not to replicate the ones I paint
and create your own. Here is a list of
festive elements with some IDs to represent
cinnamon stick, fir tree, pine cone, snowflake,
holly leaves and berries, candy cane, gingerbread
cookie, star anise, hot cocoa mug, Santa
hat, Christmas star, ornament bowl, slate,
bell, Christmas stocking, nutcracker, reindeer,
snowman, candle, mistletoe, wreath, evergreen
branch, and jingle bells. I see. During this sequence, you'll be able to see each element painted
with precision, allowing you to
refer back to it if needed while you are
painting your ornaments. When painting the boll hat
or Christmas stocking, remember to include patterns as this adds richness to
the representation. Think of polka dots, candy cane stripes,
snowflakes, stripes, hearts, zig zags, dots, diagonal lines, minicircles, wavy
lines, vertical dashes. You can find a list
of IDs and IDs of patterns in the project description section
of this class. Just download the
attached guide. I'll let you feel free to come back to this
if you need help, and I'll meet you in
a few minutes to show you how to paint two IDs
on the wooden ornaments, one for each side. See you in a minute.
5. Painting the Background Layer Side 1: Without further ado, let's dive right into the world
of creativity. As you can see, I have
protected my table with paper to prevent
any acridic stains. I have my pallet
and a wooden log. I'm using a flat brush, but narrow enough to start
painting the base layer. Start by painting a
colored layer with acrylic on one side
of the ornament. Brush over it several times
to spread the color evenly. Do not use water. It's best to use the pure color. Note that it's preferable
to use colors that will stand out against
the green background of the Christmas tree. Here, I choose a carmine red, and I will choose a winter blue later for
the snowy landscape. I added a plastic sheet so the paint on the
wooden log doesn't stick because the paper could tear and stick to
the steel wet paint. It's important to spread the pure color all
the way to the edges. I prefer not to let the light wood
background show through. Since the paint is pure, it's normal to apply more
and build up a thick layer. Not adding water makes the paint thicker
and less spreadable, which is why I go
over it frequently. You need to go to the edge
with your brush and tap to add color along the entire edge so it doesn't look like some
areas are not covered. Once you feel the color
is well distributed, let it dry before painting
the element of your ornament.
6. Painting the Background Layer Side 2: Once the side you
just painted is dry, paint the other side
in a different color. You can also paint several
wooden discs at the same time. When they are dry, flip them over and paint a back
with a base layer. I turn the ornament
over and prepare a background color to
paint a snowy landscape. I'd choose winsor blue and mix it with a slightly
lighter color. Then I use the same technique
as for the red side. I apply the pure
color without water, and I spread the pure color
all the way to the edges. You need to go to the edge
with your brush and tap to add color along the entire edge so it doesn't look like some
areas are not covered. Once you feel the color
is well distributed, let it dry before painting
the element of your ornament. You might have wondered
what the paper clip is for. I use the paper
clip to clean out the excess color
from the hole. But
7. Adding Festive Elements Side 1: Let's go back to the red
side of the ornament. Both sides are dry. We are going to use a much lighter color like
salmon pink, in this case, to paint berries or the festive element that represent the holiday
spirit you've chosen. Depending on the element, consider the fineness of
the brush you will use. If needed, sketch the element on a separate sheet of paper
beforehand to practice. Note that if you make a mistake, the advantage of
acrylic is that it dries quickly and covers
well layer after layer. It will be easy for you to apply a coat to correct any errors. Make sure to position your
ornament with the hole at the top to ensure the correct orientation
of the design. This is especially important for elements like landscapes. Since we are using a fineer
brush and the color is thick, feel free to add
a little water to your brush to draw
the twig lines. The addition of water
will help considerably. Otherwise, you'll
feel resistance with your brush and your
stroke won't be smooth. Just don't add too much water. Go over the stem several times. If you happen to make a stain
or an overflow like here, take a bit of cloth
or paper towel with some water and tap the area where you want to adjust your element and go over
the area to correct it. You won't be able to
tell there was an issue, but you need to act quickly since acrylic dries fairly fast. Take an even finer brush, if possible to trace
the side branches. Add the berries to your stems using the
same salmon colour. If you want to enhance the
composition of the ornament, feel free to add a similar element to
decorate it further. You can paint from one edge of the wooden disc to the other, even across the whole
for the attachment. Note that the elements can also be words if you
enjoy calligraphy. Make sure your paint is dry. To add detail, take some white paint and highlight
the berries and stems. To do this, simply add
a.in the center of the salmon painted berries
and line on the stems. Then let it dry. Once this side is
completely dry, move onto the back
of the wooden disc and let's paint a
snowy landscape.
8. Painting a Landscape Side 2: For this part, if needed, quickly sketch a landscape with hills and pine
trees on a test paper. Make sure to maintain the same scale as
on the wooden disc. Trace the foreground that represents the snow
covered hills. If you see that your
brush isn't large enough, take one size up
and it will allow you to distribute the
color more easily. As always, try to
distribute the paint well so that the blue background colour
doesn't show through. To stretch the paint properly, it's best to go over the
surface multiple times, which helps gently blend the
different brush strokes. Now we add the Christmas trees. I want to draw your attention
to the fact that you really need to pay attention
to the scale you are using. The proportion between the
elements must be correct. This is why if you make
a preparatory sketch, you can transfer the exact
diameter of your ornament and maintain the
proportions once you start painting on
the ornament itself. For the trees, you can
create an impression of depth by placing them
one behind the other. And to achieve this impression, also use thinner or thicker
trunks for your trees. Paint the cabin with the roof. You can extend the roof down to the hill as if it
were covered in snow. The idea is to create
the impression of perspective and the slant of
the roof helps achieve that. Adjust the slope of the
hill if you want to bury the cabin a little
more in the snow. To create details
like chimney smoke, mix your white paint with water. This way, you
softened the color, making it much more transparent. If you find the
color too intense, gently rub the paint with
your finger before it dries. Then dilute your
paint with water again until you achieve
the desired transparency. Use the same technique to paint
a large cloud in the sky. You can always add an
element like here, I'm adding a fir tree to
balance the entire drawing. Use the same technique as with the chimney smoke
for this cloud. Add water if needed to dilute the opacity
of the white color, giving the material a less dense and therefore
lighter appearance. Dab with a dry brush to remove the excess
water and color. This also creates a soft
misty effect like clouds. Once you've added the details
of the smoke and the cloud, it's time to paint the
falling snowflakes. The other use for
the paper clip is to make fine dots to
represent snowflakes. You can use a very fine brush, but since the tip of the paper clip is firm
and doesn't bend, it provides precision for
the dots and snowflakes. Use the tip of the paper clip
to dip it in white paint, then gently press it onto the surface to create
snowflakes on the log.
9. Finishing Touches: Once both sides are
completely dry, apply a layer of crystal
acrylic gel to both surfaces. This will protect
your painting and prevent it from
chipping over time. Since the gel is clear, it will dry completely transparent and won't
alter your painting. If you have accumulated
gel in the ornaments hole, remove it with the paper clip. Otherwise, you won't be able to thread the string or
ribbon through properly. Wait until the side
with the landscape is completely dry before
working on the red side. There should be no
tackiness or stickiness. Otherwise, the
pain may come off, or you might leave marks. Run your finger over it
to check if it's dry. Apply the same layer of
gel on the red side. Remove the excess gel with the paper clip and
wait for it to dry. Once everything is dry, thread a ribbon through
the hole in the ornament. You can use a large eye
needle to help with this. Tie the ribbon at the top and your ornament is ready
to decorate your tree.
10. Conclusion and Thank You: Congratulations on
completing the class. Thank you for joining me
on this creative journey. I'm so glad we could
spend this time together. I'd love for you to share your
ornaments you've created. So don't be shy. Show me, share your creations
and Christmas trees, and take pride in
what you've achieved. Thank you for taking the course. I hope to see you
on social media, tag me at Adlin Julie B on
Instagram and Facebook. And I'll see you in another
class here on Skill Share. Goodbye, and thank you.
Adeline-Julie Bee, watercolor artist & teacher
