Pumpkins and a harvest scarecrow highlight a storage box for fall.

SUPPLIES

• palette or plastic plate
• tracing paper
• transfer paper
• sanding block
• pencil
• wooden box
• painter's tape
• #3 round brush
• 3/8" stencil brush
• 1" flat brush
• liner brush
• stylus
• #1 round brush
• #2 flat brush

INSTRUCTIONS

NOTES:

Let dry completely between painting steps.

1. Using a 1" flat brush, basecoat the box Light Buttermilk; inside of box, Camel; trim on the top edge of the box, Williamsburg Blue; and the wooden handle, Heritage Brick.
2. Lightly sand the handle, edges, and sides of the box with a sanding block.
3. Mix equal parts of Antiquing/Staining Medium and Dark Chocolate. Using a 1" flat brush, paint the mix onto the box (one side at a time) and then wipe off before the stain dries. (Wipe off the center area first so it is a bit lighter than the edges. And don't forget the bottom of the box.) Repeat staining on the wooden handle and on the top edge of the box; wipe off excess.
4. Position painter's tape onto the box sides making a checkerboard pattern and lightly dry-brush checks with Heritage Brick using a stencil brush. (To dry-brush, load the stencil brush with paint; scrub bristles onto clean, dry paper towel to remove excess paint. Then use light scrubbing motion to apply checks onto surface.)
5. Transfer the design outlines onto the box, transferring the details later, as needed. Avoid transferring small details such as eyelashes or cheeks. (I painted the scarecrow design on the front and then added the pumpkin design on the other three sides. It might be easier to paint one side at a time.)
6. SCARECROW: Use a 1" flat brush to basecoat as follows: Scarecrow's hat, Camel; bird, Lamp Black; scarecrow's face and neck, Mocha; shirt, Reindeer Moss Green; pumpkin, Canyon Orange; and gloves, Light Buttermilk.
7. Using a #2 flat brush and Williamsburg Blue, lightly dry-brush small checks on the shirt; paint the hat band and buttons on the sleeves. Dry-brush the scarecrow's cheeks with Heritage Brick. Paint the scarecrow's nose with Canyon Orange. Using Burnt Sienna, shade the scarecrow's face, neck, and nose and the middle section of the pumpkin. Shade the hat band and buttons with Deep Midnight Blue. Shade the shirt with Plantation Pine.
8. Using a #2 flat brush, paint small leaves on the hat with Plantation Pine. (You can either basecoat them now and highlight later, or wait and double-load them along with the pumpkin leaves later.) Paint the flower petals using a round brush loaded with Moon Yellow and tipped in Marigold. Highlight the top of the bird; float wing; and paint the bird's beak with Moon Yellow. Paint Moon Yellow across the edge of the hat brim.
9. Using a #2 flat brush and Dark Chocolate: Shade all the corners of the box sides; around the outside of the design area; and the hat. Dab in the flower centers. Shade the bird's beak; the bottom edge of the nose; around the outside of the pumpkin (on shirt); and "behind" the middle section of pumpkin. Shade the outer edges of pumpkin.
10. Thin a drop of Dark Chocolate and, with a liner brush, pull the tip of the nose and add lines on the nose. Use the same thinned Dark Chocolate to pull twigs around the flowers on the hat brim and the curly twigs on the pumpkin.
11. Use a #2 flat brush to basecoat the pumpkin stem Dark Chocolate; shade gloves with Dark Chocolate. Dot the bird's eye with Light Buttermilk. Add the scarecrow's eyes with Lamp Black. Thin some Lamp Black to add bird's legs and scarecrow's lashes and mouth. With Lamp Black, shade the bottom edges of the flower centers and the pumpkin stem; add a small dot inside the bird's eye; and add linework and dot on the buttons
12. Use a #2 flat brush and Dark Chocolate to shade around the outside of the design (and the corners of the box if you haven't done so already); shade the sign and post. Shade "behind" the center section of the pumpkin and around the pumpkin edges; paint the pumpkin stem; and thin some paint to add curly vines and twigs. Double-load a #2 flat brush with Plantation Pine and Reindeer Moss Green to add leaves.
13. Use a #2 flat brush and Light Buttermilk to add highlights in the bottoms of the scarecrow's eyes and along the tips of the flower petals.
14. Double-load a #2 flat brush with Plantation Pine and Reindeer Moss Green to paint the leaves. (Highlight the leaves on the hat with Reindeer Moss Green if you basecoated them earlier with Plantation Pine.)
15. Thin the following colors with water and add strands of hair with a #1 round brush: Dark Chocolate; Burnt Sienna; Marigold; Moon Yellow. Thin a drop of Reindeer Moss Green to add threads on buttons. Brush Dark Chocolate underneath the hat brim (on top of the hair) to create a shadow so that the hair appears to be underneath the hat. Dot the scarecrow's eyes with Light Buttermilk. Add Light Buttermilk and Moon Yellow dots on the flowers and pumpkin.
16. PUMPKIN: Use a 1" flat brush to basecoat the sign and post, Light Buttermilk and the pumpkin, Canyon Orange. Shade the center section of the pumpkin Burnt Sienna.
17. Using a #3 round brush loaded with Moon Yellow and tipped in Marigold, paint the flower petals. Dab in the flower centers with Dark Chocolate. Using Lamp Black, paint the bird; thin paint to add legs; and shade the pumpkin stem and the bottom edges of the flower centers. Write "Autumn" with slightly thinned Lamp Black using a #1 round brush.
18. Using a #1 round brush, add a nail (dot) on the sign with Lamp Black and the bird's beak with Moon Yellow. Highlight the bird with Moon Yellow and shade the bird's beak with Dark Chocolate.
19. Use a #1 round brush to highlight the edges of the flower petals and dot the bird's eye with Light Buttermilk. Also add dots on the pumpkin with Light Buttermilk. Add a tiny Lamp Black dot in the bird's eye.
20. Lightly spray the box with Americana Matte Spray Finish.

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