08 Nov A Beginner’s Guide to Brushwork, Lesson #12

Who’s ready for Lesson #12 in our brushwork series? Today we are stepping away from the wonderful world of flowers and leaves, and we are going to be painting some chickens! Our lesson comes from the book, Brushwork Elementary Brush-Forms by Marion Hudson. Brushwork, Lesson #12 is taking what we learned in our earlier lessons, oblique brush form from Lesson #4, and adapting those skills into something new and different. You’ll be amazed how a set of two or three oblique brush forms can be shaped into chicks, and hens, both standing and sitting.

Can I just say, I want chickens SO BAD! Unfortunately, backyard chickens are not allowed in our neighborhood, and I’m seriously considering moving for this reason alone.

Redrawing the Design on Our Grid Paper

As we’ve mentioned in previous lessons, your grid paper is probably going to be different than that in the book. I say this because I looked everywhere for grid paper that was similar to the book yet never found it. So, we settled for what we could find. I would estimate that the grid paper in the book is about 1/2″ squares. Our grid paper is twice that, with 1″ square grid paper. As well, our grid paper is probably a different size overall. Because of this, the pattern in the book does not translate well onto my 1″ grid paper, so with each lesson I am redrawing the design with a few adjustments, as you can see below.

Materials Needed

• The book, Brushwork, Elementary Brush-Forms by Marion Hudson (also available online HERE)
• 1″ absorbent grid paper
• Watercolor paints
• Watercolor Paintbrush, we used Princeton Velvetouch round size 6 or round size 8
• A glass of water (not used for drinking)
• A small plate for mixing paint and water
• A napkin to dry the brush

Happy Handicrafts Video: Brushwork for Beginners, Lesson #12

This is the first lesson where we use three paint colors. – yellow, brown, and green. We first painted all of the yellow chicks, followed by the brown hens and the mud, and to conclude, we added the grass. Doing it this way, we really didn’t have the need to wash the brush at any point. We simply transitioned from one color to the next, keeping the water clean.

Start with the Yellow Paint

We started with the color yellow, because it is the lightest color. Counting the squares on the grid, we determined placement and painted all of the yellow chickens, starting with the top, and moving to the bottom.

When we finished painting the yellow chickens, we moved on to the brown ones. Some of the brown hens are sitting and some are standing. We first painted the brushforms, then added the legs and mud. We considered using a smaller round brush for the legs but didn’t find it as necessary as we thought it would be to get a thin line. With just a tiny amount of pressure, we were able to paint the legs and feet with the same brush that we used for the bodies.

We finished our painting with the green paint, coloring in some grass amid the mud.

Our final piece is not a stunning work of art, but we really enjoyed painting the chickens. We’re going to take some time to practice and perfect them – and we hope you will too!