Thyme for a Colonial Christmas Claus

Today

 I wanted to show you a project

 called 

Colonial Christmas Claus

Design

 by

 Cynthia Erekson

I love this piece. 

It makes a wonderful FALL decoration 

especially for the 

Thanksgiving Holiday

Lets step inside the STUDIO and get started!

My Palette

DecoArt Americana Acrylics

Wedgewood Blue, Bleached Sand, Lamp Black, Autumn Red, Avocado Dip, Traditional Burnt Sienna, Mustard Seed, Antique White, Dusty Rose, Graphite, Hauser Medium Green, Milk Chocolate, Canyon Orange, Sand, Shading Flesh, True Ochre, Foliage Green, Yellow Light, Tangerine

DecoArt Glamour Dust Paint

Ice Crystal, Tiger Orange

Let's Paint!

I began by first sanding my surface and removing the dust with a damp cloth.

 Often with a large surface such as this

 I combine

 Multi Purpose Sealer (1) : (1) with my base coat color

which is

  Wedgewood Blue

I combined 

the

  Wedgewood Blue and Multi Purpose Sealer

on my palette 

with a 

palette knife.

I applied with a  American Decor Flat Brush

Once my base coat was dry I transferred the main elements of the design to my surface.

I base coated the face with Dusty Rose

I shaded the face with a mix of Dusty Rose plus Shading Flesh.

Working on the eyes.

I added the color on the cheeks by floating with Autumn Red mixed with a touch of Dusty Rose

I base coated the beard with Antique White.

I loaded a stencil brush with Sand.

I tapped the brush over the beard for texture.

I keep my line drawings and color photos handy for reference.

I left the Antique White edges on the beard.

I am now working on the hat.

When complete this Santa measures 11" x 26" with the base.

 I used Graphite to shade the inner edges of the arms.

The urn is base coated with Bleached Sand.

The mittens are base coated with True Ochre.

I have transferred the detail lines to the urn.

Shading the urn with Graphite.

I use Lowell Cornell Ultra Round brushes 

for 

adding multiple washes of color and then shading.

Depending on the size of the area I am working on I either

 use a 

Duster Stippler or Maxine Mop to blend my floats.

I'm dry brushing in the highlights on the mittens and urn

using a

  Stain - It brush

which is shaped like a filbert brush.

I also use Moon Brushes for dry brushing.

I "aged" random areas of the urn by dabbing on washes of True Ochre plus Milk Chocolate.

Close -up.

I used a small stencil brush to pounce Ice Crystal onto the lightest areas of the urn.

I darkened the shading to define the inner arms 

so that it will show up once 

I add the oranges and holly leaves.

I dry brushed highlights on the mittens using Mustard Seed then Yellow Light.

I re- defined any missing holly leaves and oranges with my graphite paper.

I base coated the holly leaves with Hauser Medium Green.

I used Foliage Green, then Avocado Dip to highlight the holly leaves.

I brightened some holly tips with Yellow Light.

I painted the entire "pile" of oranges first with Traditional Burnt Sienna.

I let that dry well.

I painted the foreground oranges with Canyon Orange.

I feathered out the color as I neared the edge of the urn.

I left some of the Traditional Burnt Sienna to appear as shading between the oranges.

I added highlights to the background oranges using Canyon Orange.

I added additional highlights of Tangerine to all the oranges.

I then added a bit of Yellow Light highlights to the foreground fruit.

I pressed masking tape along the outer edges of the robe.

I painted the robe Lamp Black.

The trim is painted with Traditional Burnt Sienna.

Working on the beard and mustache.

I use Silver Micron Mini brushes for detail work.

I am now adding the leaf veins using Lamp Black.

The sticks are Milk Chocolate.

I added the cloves on the oranges with my stylus and Milk Chocolate.

I added the Autumn Red berries with a brush handle.

Almost done!

Now to finish detail at the bottom of the robe.

Buttons and cross hatching added to the robe.

I used a sponge brush to pounce paint on the wood oranges.

I applied the paint heavily to add texture. 

Let dry well between each coat.

I painted the wood oranges the same way the ones were painted on the Santa surface.

I continued to mix colors and pounce on layers of paint.

I let the oranges dry well before additional coats of paint.

I added final highlights of color with Tiger Orange.

Once everything was dry I applied several coats

 of 

Dura Clear Ultra Matte Varnish

to the Santa

I sprayed the wood oranges 

with

  Matte Sealer / Finisher.

Close-up of Santa's face.

Rosemary Reynolds and DecoArt

provided the paints to complete this project as part of their 

Helping Artist and Blogger Out Reach Programs

Thank you DecoArt!

I hope your have enjoyed watching me paint

Colonial Christmas Claus

Happy Painting!

Lynn