16 Aug A Beginner’s Guide to Brushwork, Lesson #6

Our next lesson in our brushwork series is more than additional practice. Brushwork, lesson #6, from the book, Brushwork Elementary Brush-Forms by Marion Hudson, is a model lesson on hips and leaves. It takes an autumn nature walk and turns it into an in-depth examination of nature. If you are a Charlotte Mason homeschool family, this sort of lesson will feel very familiar. You can seamlessly incorporate this lesson in brushwork into your nature walks.

What are Hips?

Let’s us first start with a definition and concept of what these plants are. This book was originally published in 1903 in London, England, where apparently rose hips were so common that the author didn’t find it necessary to even refer to the rose – just “hips.” They apparently grew in abundance down country lanes in autumn.

Rose hips are the small fruits of the rose plant. Once the rose flower is pollinated and the petals fall off, there develops a berry-like fruit. This fruit is typically round or oval, and is usually reddish-orange, or even purple or black, depending on the variety. 

Rose hips are known for their high vitamin C and antioxidant content and have been used for centuries in traditional medicine and cuisine.  They can be eaten raw, or cooked into jams and jellies, or made into drinks, such as teas and wines.

The book suggests gathering some of these hips, giving them to your students, and having them examine the berries and leaves, noting the “number, arrangement, colour, etc…” A few things to note are “that the berries generally go in pairs, though there may be several pairs close together on the main stalk. That the little leaflets forming the leaves are opposite, but the leaves themselves grow alternatively on the stalk. That the hips have little brown horns at the top…”

Here’s our problem: we live in suburbia. There are no country lanes, and there are no hips lining the non-existent country lanes. So, what to do? I found several pictures for us to examine, and we watched some videos. Be reassured, that this is perfectly fine to do when originals are not available.

Help! Our Grid Paper is Different!

As in lesson #4, and lesson #5, we noted that the grid paper used in the book is not the same as our grid paper. I would estimate that the grid paper in the book is about 1/2″ squares. Our grid paper is 1″ square grid paper, and probably a different size overall. Because of this, the pattern in the book does not translate well onto my 1″ grid paper, so I had to adjust it a little, as you can see below. And like I mentioned in the previous lesson, I don’t think it’s the pattern that is so important but rather practicing all of the brush forms that we have learned so far.

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
• A bunch of rose hips (or pictures and videos, if not available)

Happy Handicrafts Video: Brushwork for Beginners, Lesson #6

The Process

Begin with the color red and make the brush-forms along the top. The book indicates that this would be done by the teacher giving directions, using the border and grid as a guide. We found this teach narration to be dreadfully complicated and confusing, and instead, each student used the pattern that I had drawn.

Once we’d done the red brush-forms along the top, we continued to fill in the remainder of the red hips, including their stalks and calyx.

When we were finished with the red color, we brushed it against our napkin to free it from as much red color as possible. The book is clear that we should not be washing it at all at this point. We did take up a small amount of water, however, to coat our brush in green. With the tip of the brush, we painted over the red calyx and stalks, which gave them a brown color. I love that this practice keeps it so simple, that they don’t add a third color.! Just mixing the red and green is all you need.

We finished by painting the leaves and their stalks.

Practice! Practice! And Practice Some More!

Did I mention practice?

So far in our brushwork series, we’ve learned to start with a point and to lay our brush down, finishing with a rounded end. Leaves, however, start and end in a point. And this is not as easy as it looks! It definitively takes practice! You can see in the first image below – this is my first attempt, and it’s not pretty! The second image is my second attempt – still not great, but there’s improvement! I still have lots of practice to do!

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!