Dress up your Thanksgiving festivities with a tray filled with fall leaves and thankfulness.

SUPPLIES

• water container
• palette or plastic plate
• stylus or pencil
• tracing paper
• #2 liner brush
• #6 round brush
• 120-grit sandpaper
• soft rag
• white transfer paper
• 1" wash brush
• #2 shader brush

INSTRUCTIONS

NOTES:

Allow 20 minutes drying time between applications

1. Using the 1” wash brush, cover the entire surface of the tray with Carbon Black and Burnt Umber, using the stroke method. (Some areas cover in Carbon Black and some areas cover in Burnt Umber; do not rinse brush between colors.) Let dry.
2. Hand-sand the tray lightly with 120-grit sandpaper and dust off.
3. Apply the tree limb pattern using a stylus and white transfer paper.
4. Paint the bottom of each limb with Carbon Black and the top of each limb with a mix of Burnt Umber plus a drop of Titanium White.
5. Using the #2 liner brush, stroke on Carbon Black to the bottom of the limb and Burnt Umber/Titanium White mix from step 4 to the top of the limb, working a small section at a time and brushing over slightly where the two colors meet to blend.
6. Add a little Burnt Umber to some of the top sections of each limb.
7. Mix a little Cerulean Blue plus Medium Green plus Titanium White to create a turquoise color and use to highlight the top section of some of the limbs. (Save mix for a later step.)
8. Apply the leaf pattern using white transfer paper and the stylus.
9. Using the #6 round brush, basecoat each leaf twice with a mixture of English Red Oxide plus Diarylide Yellow plus a few drops of Titanium White. Let dry.
10. After drying, paint each leaf using the blending technique with Diarylide Yellow and English Red Oxide. (Some leaves are more Diarylide Yellow and less English Red Oxide.)
11. Add the vein shadow area using the #2 liner brush and English Red Oxide with a few drops of water added to it. Let dry.
12. After drying time, add the light color vein right next to the shadow using a mix of Diarylide Yellow plus a drop of Titanium White plus a few drops of water.
13. Add the bug bites with the #2 liner brush and Carbon Black. Highlight some of the edges of the bug bites with the Diarylide Yellow/Titanium White/water mix from step 12.
14. Apply the berry pattern using the white transfer paper and the stylus.
15. Basecoat each berry with a mix of English Red Oxide plus Burnt Umber.
16. Create two mixes: English Red Oxide plus Diarylide Yellow and Diarylide Yellow plus Titanium White. Each berry is painted using the blending technique of these two shades. Use English Red Oxide/Diarylide Yellow mix to create the tiny berry stems.
17. Add a little Diarylide Yellow plus a few drops of water to some of the berries using the stroke method, just to make them stand out more.
18. Highlight some of the berries with Titanium White.
19. Apply the font pattern using the white transfer paper and the stylus.
20. Apply two coats of the Cerulean Blue/Medium Green/Titanium White mix from step 7, using the stroke method and the #2 liner brush to fill in each letter.
21. After drying time, lighten the mix more with just Titanium White and highlight the letters.
22. Use Carbon Black plus a few drops of water and the #2 liner brush to create a shadow to the right of each letter.
23. Free-hand the stripes on the outside of the tray with the Cerulean Blue/Medium Green/Titanium White mix from step 7 and the #2 shader brush. Add Diarylide Yellow stripes in between using the #2 liner brush.
24. After drying time, lightly hand-sand the outside edges and dust off. Allow to dry 24 hours.
25. Spray the tray with three coats of Traditions Multi-Surface Sealer the next day, allowing drying time between applications.

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