1 Firstly, tape down the paper with masking tape, covering approx. 1cm all the way round. Prepare a background using black or Paynes Grey acrylic. Leave areas textured with brush strokes, especially at the sides. A normal household 2in (50mm) brush is fine for this.

2 Once the background is completely dry, draw out the chandelier image using a white pencil (or pastel/chalk). The main image of the crystal is very much central. Draw a line down the centre and a further horizontal line, around 10cm from the top. This will help in registering the main image.

3 Add sections of wash. These should be ultramarine blue and turquoise for the top curved section. For the crystal, a few sections of a light grey wash. Let areas ‘bleed into’ each other in the same way as a watercolour. Repeat the process for the background crystal areas. Use a fairly fat brush, around size 30.

4 Using the tips of size 2 or 6, apply white highlighted areas to the curve and the crystal. Again, using the same brushes and a mix of ultramarine, turquoise, midnight blue shade, and white to build up the linear reflections in the curve section (top).

5 With various brush sizes, and a combination of grey tones, orange, turquoise, and black, begin to randomly block areas at the base of the crystal. The paint can be fairly thick for this part. Also a few areas on the background crystals.

6 Apply areas of orange wash and drops to the background areas. Also, white and grey wash.

7 Once dry, using a fine brush, tighten up lines with black. Using a thick brush (around 30), splatter/spray white to add some drops around the crystal area.

8 Finally, once the entire image is dry, using fine sandpaper, gently sand down the background crystal areas. These will begin to look more blurred and brush strokes from the base will come through. Gently peel away the masking tape to reveal border.

“ The great artist is the simplifier.” - Vincent Van Gogh

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WEEK 12WEEK 12SPRING 2020

acrylic

TRACY GILCHRIST