Add a canvas of textural mixed media grapes to adorn your Tuscan-style home décor.

SUPPLIES

• water container
• palette or plastic plate
• paper towels
• transfer paper
• 3/4" flat brush
• #8 flat brush
• #12 flat brush
• sponge dauber
• palette paper
• pen
• palette knife
• #2 script liner brush
• studio wrapped canvas

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Load a 3/4" flat brush with Burlap to paint the canvas. Let dry completely.
2. Spread Texture Sand Paste all over canvas with a palette knife. Let dry.
3. Transfer the pattern onto the canvas using the transfer paper and a pen.
4. Carefully cover the entire design with Texture Sand Paste using a slightly damp #8 flat brush. In the grape areas, build up the design slightly with a sponge dauber. (You want the grapes and leaves to have texture, but more on the grapes.)
5. When adding the leaves and branches, load the #12 flat brush with a touch of Texture Sand Paste, adding dimension as you go.
6. When the entire pattern is covered with the Texture Sand Paste, let dry completely. (It may need several hours to dry.)
7. Dampen the sponge dauber and mix with a touch of Dioxazine Purple to paint the grapes. (You want the paint a bit inky. They don’t have to be opaque as you will be adding more layers of paint to each grape. For now, just block in the color.)
8. Load a #12 flat brush with a touch of Carbon Black, Phthalo Green-Blue, and Dioxazine Purple; mix on the palette or plastic plate. (You’re going for a dark green color.) Mix with a touch of water to make the paint inky. Use the mix to paint the leaves. Save the mix for later step.
9. Load a #8 flat brush with Burnt Umber and a touch of water to make inky. Use to paint the branches.
10. The grapes should have a variation of color. You can mix a couple of colors on the palette with the #12 flat brush, or you can pick up the colors as needed with the dauber as you are painting. Primary Cyan and Primary Magenta make great colors for grapes. Dioxazine Purple, Primary Cyan, and a touch of Titanium White make a great color for lighter grapes.
11. For the final grapes, you can add a touch of Patina Green Antiquing Cream to one edge of the dauber already loaded with Dioxazine Purple. (This gives the grapes that "juicy" appearance.)
12. Keep the first layer of grapes darker; as you continue to paint the grapes on top, add more of a highlight to those to give the cluster dimension. Start at the base of the grapes and press the dauber, slightly twist, and lift.
13. If you want to darken a grape, load a #8 flat brush with some inky Dioxazine Purple and wash over the grape that might be too light.
14. The same will work if you want an area lighter on a grape. Load a #8 flat brush with inky Patina Green and a touch of Titanium White and wash over the area you want to highlight more. Load a #2 script liner brush with inky Dioxazine Purple and paint a small “U” stroke on several of the grapes. (Refer to the final project photo or pattern.)
15. Load a #2 script liner brush with inky Burnt Umber and paint a small stem going up into the cluster.
16. Leaves: Load a #12 flat brush with the inky mix from step 8; repaint the leaves.
17. With color still in the brush, pick up a touch of Primary Yellow and work into the brush. With the chisel edge of the brush on the edge of the leaf, pull and lift, bringing color into the leaf. Reload and repaint. (Don’t pull the brush all the way to the stem in the center of the leaf.) Pull and lift quickly so that the brush feathers a bit. Repeat until all leaves are painted.
18. Reload the dauber with colors of your choice, paint the next grape and so on, until you’ve painted them all. (Notice in the final project photo how the Primary Magenta comes out in some of the grapes and the Patina Green highlight is on most of the grapes that are on the top of other grapes.)
19. Load a #2 script liner brush with inky Patina Green and a touch of Primary Yellow; paint one side of the leaves, giving the impression of the leaf edge folding. Paint the stem and small veins on the leaf. (Because the paint was wet, the lines faded a bit, which I like. I have a rule about that: if you like it, leave it; if you don’t, repaint it.)
20. Branches: Load a #8 flat brush with inky Burnt Umber and repaint the branches using the chisel edge of the brush. (Start on the left side and pull the brush as you slide on the chisel edge to paint the branch and twigs coming off the branch. Don’t apply too much pressure and don’t lean the handle of the brush forward. Think of it as though you are ice skating on the chisel edge; your entire arm moves as you paint the branch and twigs.)
21. With color still in the brush, side-load one corner with Primary Yellow and a touch of Titanium White. Paint small dash strokes along the top of the branch and twigs to give them a highlight.
22. Background: You want a soft, muted and slightly out-of-focus looking background. All of the colors used are inky (mixed with water) so that they flow and move through the Texture Sand Paste. Load a #12 flat brush with inky Patina Green Antiquing Cream to paint the background. (Remember, you want a soft look so you're not using heavy paint. Let the water move the paint through the texture.) Reload and repeat until all of the background is painted.
23. Load the brush with the mix from step 8. Starting at the top of the canvas, press the brush into the edge, letting the color drip down. Repeat along the top edge, from the side edges and then flip canvas upside down and let drip from the edge just like you did on the top of the canvas.
24. Add a bit in between the grapes as well. You can let it drip where it wants to; however, be mindful of where you wanted the background to remain lighter in color – around the cluster of grapes and top leaf. Side-load one corner of the brush with inky Dioxazine Purple and paint a shadow under the branches and under some of the grapes.
25. Load the brush with very inky Dioxazine Purple; splatter paint here and there on the canvas by tapping the brush on the handle of another brush. (This will make a bit of a mess, so make sure you are working on a protected work surface. If you don’t like a particular dot somewhere, load the brush with water and dilute it a bit; it will fade into the texture.)
26. Let dry completely.

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