Creating the One Stroke Way - Day 14

Butterflies are free to fly, 

fly away!

Wouldn't it be fun to see these little beauties flying around your garden?

Follow along, and you can at least have them flittering about on your canvas, or flower pots, or bedroom walls, or well, where ever you wish!

 







Load your #12 flat brush with your main color (mine is purple) and a highlight color (white for me). The butterfly wings are created just like a flower petal. The first stroke will the larger wing that is in back, so lay your brush down with the darker color on top, lead with that color. You can see on the left I wiggled my brush back and forth as I pulled it along, creating the ruffley effect. On the right, I made a simple wing by pulling my brush around in a tight 'C' stroke.

 






Now flip your paintbrush over, with the lighter color on top, and make a similar wing, only a bit smaller, right on top of the first wing. This will give it the appearance of being closer, giving it dimension and depth. Be sure to have plenty of paint on your brush. Reload after each stroke if necessary.

 







We add two smaller wings by setting the brush down at the far tip of the wing and dragging it in to meet the bottom of the larger wings. To accomplish this narrower wing, you should pull your paint brush along the narrow edge, rather than laying it fully flat-out.

 






Already they look like butterflies, don't they? Or a springtime blossom maybe? We'll finish the details, so there is no question as to what they are.

 To make the body, dip your script-liner brush into inky paint (I used a dark green, you could use black or navy or whatever, thinned with water). Set tip of brush where head should be, pull and drag slightly in a comma stroke and pull up, trailing off a bit to make thin tail.

 
With the liner brush dipped into black paint, I roughly followed the outlines of the wings and added little anntenae. Now they are free to float around and add their beauty and put a smile on your face. 

C'mon! Pick up that paintbrush and give it a try!

For more One Stroke Painting inspiration, you can see a list of my other posts on Day 1 of this series.

If you'd like to know more about the One Stroke Painting method created by Donna Dewberry, or if you are interested in her workshops, instruction books or other products, you can check her website at http://www.dewberrycrafts.com/

You can find other inspiring posts from hundreds of bloggers joining in the 31 Days series adventure hosted by The Nester. Click on over for ideas on everything from diy home decor to homemade gifts, new and improved recipes to how-to-clean and organize anything and lots more!