04 Apr A Beginner’s Guide to Brushwork, Lesson #21

Today’s homeschool handicraft project is Lesson #21 in our brushwork series from the book, Brushwork Elementary Brush-Forms by Marion Hudson. Brushwork Lesson #21 is a Design of Ivy, and is a really beautiful way to practice that the brush forms and ivy that we learned in Lesson #20. Once you start painting ivy with its’ creeping vines and 5-star leaves, you won’t be able to stop!

Redrawing the Design on Our Grid Paper

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 I redrew the design with a few adjustments, as you can see below. You may find it helpful to refer to this grid while working on this lesson.

Materials Needed

• The book, Brushwork, Elementary Brush-Forms by Marion Hudson (also available online HERE)
• 1″ absorbent grid paper
• Watercolor paints (green and brown)
• Watercolor Paintbrush, we used a Princeton Velvetouch , round size 6 or 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: A Beginner’s Guide to Brushwork, Lesson #21

The Process

This lesson requires just two paint colors – green and brown. I like to start with the lightest color and work to the darkest so that we do not muddy our water and potentially cause discoloration of the lighter color. For this reason, we’re starting with green. This is where my grid comes in very handy. By counting the squares on the grid, you can determine exactly where each brush form should go.

When painting the pointed ivy leaves, start with the top, vertical form. Next, paint the two forms pointing downwards. Paint them to overlap the first form at the base. This will make them appear shorter. Finish the ivy by painting the two forms pointing sideways. When painting this design, the ivy leaves are pointing in various directions, so it may help to rotate the paper as needed.

The leaves are painted like the leaves in Lesson #8, a Lesson on Yellow Dahlia. The berries are made with the point of the brush.

This is how mine turned out! How did you do?

Come Join Us!

If you’re just finding us, you can get started with our first brushwork lesson and advance according to your skill. All of our videos are stored on YouTube at Happy Handicrafts. You don’t have to start with brushwork – we have paper sloyd, needle-felting, crochet, and more. Go explore and choose which playlist will be the best for you and your family! We’ll see you there!