18 Apr A Beginner’s Guide to Brushwork, Lesson #22

Our homeschool handicraft project for today is brushwork lesson #22 from the book, Brushwork Elementary Brush-Forms by Marion Hudson. This lesson is called a Lesson on Mountain Ash, featuring feathery, compound leaves and bright orange-red berries. By now in our brushwork series, we are really moving beyond the nitty-gritty, practice part. Painting actual flowers, leaves, branches, and other parts of nature, makes this handicraft even more enjoyable and meaningful.

Our Grid Paper

With most of our brushwork lessons, we have adapted the grid paper design in the book to our own grid paper. For this lesson, I decided to forgo my usual pre-drawn design and just go with the flow. This was actually very liberating, and I highly encourage it. It allows for the freedom of your own creativity and expression, which only add to the enjoyment of the exercise.

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 #22

The Process

For this lesson, we used three paint colors – brown, green and red. This time, I decided to start with the brown paint so that I could use the branches as a basic outline for the painting. As you paint the branches, don’t try to make them straight. You’ll want to add some curve to give the illusion of a swaying, living branch.

Next, I used the green paint. I painted all of the leaves with our now-very-familiar brush form, all along the branches. Then, probably very against Ms. Hudson’s teachings, I returned to the brown to connect the leaves to the branches.

Lastly, I painted the berries. These were made by painting a small circle with the brush point, and then filling it in, leaving a tiny spot of white in the center as the highlight. I went back to the brown, once again, to connect the berries to the stem. And that completed the lesson!

I am finding that with each lesson, I gain more confidence in the techniques of brushwork and more faith in myself. This handicraft brings me joy, and I hope it does for you, too!

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!