Potato Barrel Painting!

Happy Friday folks! Every once in a while I get asked to paint something for somebody. A neighbor asked me if I could paint a potato barrel for her, she said she liked birds and sunflowers and she wanted it primitive and rustic. The rest was up to me, this is what I came up with:

The process for this was simple. I sketched on a design with a white chalk pencil so that any stray lines or mistakes could be erased with water. Then I painted the design with acrylic paints. I find that when I work in acrylics I do better if I paint for a while, then go away. This barrel had a lot of “oh my, this is terrible! What have I done?” moments. When I come back I can see what is needed, what is working and what is not and what needs to be added. The goldfinch and wheat stalks did not get added til the end but without them it would have been really dull.  I did this piece in 3 sittings.

It is quite different from when I work in watercolors. I don’t feel as “at ease” with acrylics but I needed this to be durable outside and dry in a reasonable amount of time and acrylics are perfect for that. I also tend to fret about my work when I am painting for someone else, especially on something that belongs to someone because I don’t want to ruin anything that another person cherishes. Luckily she likes the barrel!

If you fancy a bit of painting all of my tutorials are 40% off now through Saturday along with everything else at Lindsay’s stamp Stuff. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!