04 Jul A Beginner’s Guide to Brushwork, Lesson #28

We are in the end stretch, my friend! Today, our homeschool handicraft is brushwork lesson #28, from the book, Brushwork Elementary Brush-Forms by Marion Hudson. It is called A Lesson on Storks and Bulrushes. This lesson builds on Lesson #19 with the ducklings being very similar to the storks, and Lesson #14 with the tops of the bulrushes being the same as the violet petals. At this point, we are practicing skills that we have already covered.

The stork is a bird that stands quietly upon long, slender legs. Its snowy white feathers are trimmed with glossy black wings. Its long crimson bill is fashioned as perfectly for fishing as a needle is for sewing. The stork possesses a quiet dignity as it waits and watches from the bulrushes.

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 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 (green and brown)
• Watercolor Paintbrush, we used a Princeton Velvetouch , round size 6 
• 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 #28

The Process

We began this lesson using the brown paint, since the practice brush forms along the top were brown. Using our grid to identify landmarks, we continued putting in all of the brown paint, referring to Lesson #19 for the bodies of the larger storks. Then we used the tip of the brush to add the feet, heads and beaks of the birds.

Next we switched to the green color, painting in the bulrush stems, leaves, and grass. We completed the lesson by adding in some brown grass and dirt below the storks, and brown shadows on the bulrushes.

Come Join Us!

If you’re just finding us, you can get started with our first brushwork lesson and advance according to your skill. We store all of our videos 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!