| COLOUR
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 The Colour Wheel: The colour wheel is basically an idea and not a scientific tool. The hues coloured on this wheel are only a guide as they are not 'pure' hues. You can make a wheel with any medium you like, be it watercolour, oil, acrylics, pastel or coloured pencils, for example - but the colours you put in will never have the the rainbow purity of the spectrum.
Every colour has three qualities: hue, tone and intensity, and the everyday word 'colour' combines these three qualities.
Hue is a colour's name - red, green, blue or yellow, for example. To change the hue of a colour, you add another to it.
Tone refers to a colour's darkness or lightness. Adding black to a hue makes it change gradually towards dark, and these graduations are called shades. The graduations towards lightness are made by adding white to a hue and these are called tints. Both tints and shades describe tone.
Intensity refers to a colour's brilliance (brightness). A hue of strong (high) intensity seems vivid and saturated, while a hue of weak (low) intensity seems dull. The colour wheel shows that yellow has a strong intensity. Dull, when used this way doesn't mean dreary - it's simply the opposite of bright.
Primary colours: Pure redx, yellow and blue cannot be mixed from other colours. When making your own coloured wheel , paint in the three primaries, placing the yellow at the top. (see illustration)
Secondry colours: These are mixed from two primaries. Orange is mixed from red and yellow, green from yellow and blue, and violet from red and blue. Add the secondry colours to your colour wheel (see illustration)
Complementary colours: The wheel helps you to see at a glance each colour's complementary (opposite) colour. Notice that each primary colour is always complemented by a secondry colour (directly opposite). It is never opposite another primary.
Tertiary colours: Red-orange, yellow-green and blue-violet are made by mixing a primary and a secondary colour. Place these on your wheel in the circle at the bottom right. (See illustration)
 Temperature: Some colours look warm, others look cool. When you divide the colour wheel down the middle, splitting yellow at the top and violet at the bottom, you can see on the left side that the reds and oranges are warm and vibrant and the right side the greens and blues are cool and calming. But what about the violet? The yellow section on the orange side is a warm yellow, while the yellow section on the green side is a cool yellow. The same is true with violet; it's warmer toward red and cooler toward blue.
Closely related colours: These are next to each other on the colour wheel. They share a common base colour - for example, yellow-orange, orange and red-orange all have the colour orange in common; and blue-green, blue and blue-violet all have blue in common. While these terms help to explain colour, they are not strictly scientific. Rather, they act as guides to enable artists to use colour more skilfully and successfully.
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| Techniques of Drawing
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All objects have a 'natural' tone (called local tone by artists) which describes the amount of light they reflect under 'laboratory' conditions. In reality, however this local tone is affected by the light - natural or artificial - which falls onto an object.That's why normally dark buildings bathed in sunlight can take on a lighter tone, while white buildings in shade appear darker.
More often than not, one part of an object receives a lot of light, while the other parts are in varying degrees of shade. The result is that the object contains a range of tones: some are lighter than the local tone, some are darker, and some are the same. The tones depend on how much light there is, where it comes from and on where it falls.
By accurately mirroring these changes of tone in your work, you can bring out the effects of light falling on the subject depth and form in a way no outline drawing ever can.
Artists call the process of modifying tone to take account of light and shade 'modelling' - an accurate description because in effect what you are doing is 'building up' the form using changes in tones.
Practice modelling by drawing outlines of the four basic shapes (see above) and then converting them into objects by fulling in the outlines with tone, as shown above. Don't worry about the local tone of the objects yet - leave this white so that you don't get confused and concentrate solely on mirroring the effects of light and shade. There are several important points to note:
- Where edges are sharp, as in the cube, the tone changes are sharp too.
- Where surfaces are curved, the tone changes are gradual.
- The shadows cast by the objects are darker than the shadows the shadiest tones on the objects themselves.
- The tones lighten unexpectedly next to the shadows. this is caused by light being reflected back onto the object by the surface on which it is standing.
In sketches it is possible to use tone purely as a modelling device for indicating the differences between light and shade. But in finished drawings and paintings you need to take account of the subject's local tones as well.
Combining modelling tones becomes much easier if you keep in mind one important rule: that the contrast between the well lit and the shaded parts of a light-toned object is much more pronounced than it is on an object with a naturally dark local tone. Many inexperienced sketchers forget this, with the result that they overwork the shaded parts of light objects and literally run out of dark tones when they come to model darker objects within the same study.
The step-by-step drawing above, which takes as its subject a dark red and a light green apple, illustrates how the rules of modelling can be applied.
Because it is a pencil, the artist can start off shading in the local tones and then lighten them with an eraser or darken them by applying more pressure. But using an eraser in this way - positively, like a whit paintbrush - requires a gentle touch. If the tones are applied or rubbed out too hard, you risk damaging the paper.
Other mediums often require a different technique. With water-colour, for example, you would start off with the lighter tones - possibly bare paper - and move progressively to darker tones with successive layers of wash or paque colour.
The first stage is to decide how different the local tones of the two apples really are. In this case they are deceptively similar despite the contrast hue (the ed apple is on the left, the green on the right). By the end of stage A (top 2 apples) the tones are distinguishable but the apples possess no form - the effects of light and shade have yet to be brought out.
Stage B (middle 2 apples) sees the bulk of the modelling work completed. The shadier parts of the red apple are darkened and the lighter parts of the green apple lightened. Then the artist decides that the tonal contrast on the green apple is not quite strong enough, so some of the shadier areas are made darker than the local tone.
Stage C (bottom 2 apples) adds the vitality of reflected light: having drawn in the shadows, the artists erases most of the tone from the near points of both apples (which is where they catch the light), thereby creating the appearance of 'shininess' rather than plain lightness. Notice too how the tones near the shadows are lightened to take account of light reflected off the background.
With your eye trained to see things in terms of tone rather than colour, and with the idea that you can reduce the number of tones in order to simplify a picture, you are ready to make decisions about which tones work best in a particular drawing or painting.
Drawing A Tone Scale
A tone scale like the one above is an invaluable aid during the decision making process.
Start by drawing nine squares on a sheet of white paper, the, using a soft pencil or charcoal, colour the last one black. Now work back along the squares, shading each one a slightly lighter shade of grey than the last until you get to the final square, which should be almost white. the tenth tone - pure white - is represented by the paper itself.
Having finished the scale, stand back from it and check that the tones vary in more or less equal steps from one square to the next.
Making Your Choice
After an initial look at the subject, decide how many tones you can comfortably handle and then give each colour a tone 'value' as represented on the scale. You are unlikely to need all ten, since many similar tones can be combined, but try to ensure that you cover the range of the scale so that each grouping is distict from the others.
Three Tone Drawing
 
If you choose only three tones - the practical minimum for a recognisable drawing - make sure they are strongly contrasted and compose your picture so that this contrast is brought out. Notice here how the sand dune, which is bare white paper, is given its form by the dark grey grass, sea and tidal pool. Bare white is also used for the sky and beach, but the three areas have been kept distict by clever positioning of the pale grey clouds and shadows.
Four Tone Drawing
 
Narrowing what you see down to four tones keeps things simple but allows considerably more compositional freedom. Here the tones are graduated to create a sense of distance (things appear lighter the further away they are). The lightest tones are also carried through into the foreground to suggest sunlight breaking through the trees. Match the tones used against the nine-tone scale above and you can see a more or less even transition from bare white to very dark grey. this tonal balance is equally apparent in the picture.
Seeing in Black and White
Next time you study a subject, try screwing up your eyes and looking again - this has the effect of 'filtering out' most of the colour differences, enebling you to see the tonal variations.
Many colours, fewer tones: Compare the painting above by Jarvis Wilcox with a tone drawing of the same subject above. Two very different colours turn out to share the same tones.
Simplifying Tones
The art of translating the tonal variations you see before you onto paper or canvas lies in simplifying similar tones so that you end up with just a few clearly contrasting ones. This is relatively easy if you take your subject from a black and white photograph, but much more difficult when the subject is in colour, like the first cup above. Here, there are five distinct colours, but if you look at the tone drawing, you see only four tones - the outside of the cup and the shadow inside have very different hues and intensities, but they share the same tone. Practice making these distinctions on similar simple objects, if possible using black and white photos to check that your findings are reasonably accurate.
Working with just a few tones does not necessarily mean your picture has to have the same simplistic look as the cup.
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| Modelling With Colour - Acrylics
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Combining Techniques
There's no reason why you can't combine techniques within the same painting to suit the subject. In landscapes, skies painted with opaque colour and then overlaid with a transparent wash take on a new kind of luminosity. Likewise, drybrushed trees silhouetted against a neutral background appear myseriously soft, as if painted in pastel.
Seeing your colours as tones and using them to model the three-dimensional form of an object is one of the most effective ways of exploring the properties of acrylic paint. Choose a simple, everyday subject like this apple, in which the light, dark and midtones are clearly defined. Keep the background equally plain, and concentrate on mirroring the effects of light and shade so that the apple appears truly solid.
Start this study of an apple with a line drawing that defines the round shape of the fruit, its a stem and a couple of leaves. The background wash is a mixture of ultramarine, burnt sienna, yellow ochre and white. Scrub this in quite roughly using a bristle brush, and darken the tone slightly as you approach the foreground by adding more ultramarine and burnt sienna. Don't worry if your casual brush-strokes overlap the apple's outlines.
Draw placement guides for the lines between boards on the tabletop with a sharp pencil and a ruler. These lines should converge slightly towards a vanishing point so that the boards appear to recede. Take a round nylon or sable type brush and use the tip to draw in the grain pattern of the wood with a paler version of the mixture used to paint the background in step 1 - simply add more white to lighten the tone. For the shadow cast by the apple use a darker version of the same mixture, this time adding more ultramarine and burnt sienna. Paint in the main shadow tone first with a bristle brush, then lighten the tone again and add the wood grain lines in the shadow area using the tip of your round sable.
Having painted in the background, cover the entire shape of the apple with a flat midtone. Use a blend of cadmium red, napthol crimson, yellow orchre and white, applied with the flat bristle brush. Next make up a thin wash of yellow orchre, ultramarine and burnt sienna - mixing lots of water but no white. Brush this over the leaf areas with a round nylon brush. Paint in shadows on theleaves using a darker version of the same mixture - add less water but more ultramarine and burnt sienna.
4 Begin Modelling
Now you are ready to start overlaying the midtone of the apple with the lights and darks which will give it three-dimensional form. The dark-toned red patch at the top of the apple is a mixture of napthol crimson, cadmium red, yellow ochre and white. Add progressively more white as you work downwards, so that the mixture blends into the midtone. Apply the paint with your round sable or nylon brush. Use short, slender strokes that curve round the shape of the fruit. Paint the highlights where the light catches the shiny skin of the apple using mainly yellow ochre and white, plus a hint of the reddish mixture used to paint the rest of the apple. Employ scumbling strokes for these light patches so that they blend imperceptibly into the red parts of the apple.
Scumbled brushstokes are used to put the finishing touches to the apple. Again, use the tip of your brush so that the details blend into the main tones. For the brighter, cooler highlight on the left-hand side, use a semi-opaque mixture of white with just a hint of black. For the sublte tone surrounding the base of the stem, brush on a mixture of ultramarine,yellow ochre and burnt umber. then use the point of your brush to add tiny random spots of the mixture to the sides of the apple. Finally, paint in the stem with a dark mixture of burnt sienna and ultramarine.
To sum up, it's best to begin by painting in the flat,overall midtone of your subject. Then block in the lights and darks, add highlights, and lastly paint in the more precise details. Remeber, you'll enhance the three-dimensional feeling if your brushstrokes follow the form of the object, as on the apple.
- Illustration board or primed harboard cut to a 5" - 6" (12.5cm - 15cm) square.
- One flat bristle brush, two or three round nylon or sable blend brushes.
- A sharpe pencil and ruler.
- A palette of eight colours: ivory black, ultramarine, napthol crimson, cadmium red, yellow orchre, burnt umber, burnt sienna, titanium white.
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| Layering With Coloured Pencils
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The best way of mastering the layer technique is to practice with swatches. The ones above employ Derwent Studion pencils on rough cartridge paper, but you can produce similar effects using equivalent pencils from other ranges.
To acieve the colours shown, first lay down three patches of primary colours, using hard pressure at the top then easing off until the paper shows clearly through the pigment. The primary colours used here are:
Row 1 - 14 Deep vermillion
Row 2 - 6 Deep cadmium
Row 3 - 32 Spectrum blue
To the right of each primary colour make several more patches using varying pressures. Then experiment by layering different colours over the top of these, again varying the pressure. Shade in each layer of colours in the same direction as the original patches, and don't forget to make a note of each pencil.
In example 1st Row - 51 Olive green, 52 Bronze, 61 Copper beech, 37 Oriental blue, and 63 Venetial red are applied with different pressures.
In example 2nd Row - the layerd colours used are 55 Vandyke brown, 52 Bronze, 63 Venetian red and 12 Scarlet lake.
In example 3rd Row - the blue patches are layered with 7 Naples yellow, 15 Crimson lake and 69 Gunmetal very lightly applies; the bottom right hand patch is layered over 7 Naples yellow and 11 Spectrum orange.
Don't press too hard with your pencils when layering: allow some of the white paper to show through, or your results will be muddy.
Above Square 1: You don't have to layer in one direction only. Try stroking the colour over softly in a random way.
Above Square 2: Directional layering gives a more positive appearance. The patches illustrated here have been applied with diagonal, horizontal and vertical strokes and, on the right, combining all three directions.
Heavy pressure techniques and dense layering sometimes produce a surface 'bloom' that can look like fogging or fading. To remove this, rub the picture surface lightly with a soft cloth, or spray with two light coats of fixative.
The demonstration drawings of pears below show just how effectively colour layering can be used to model the form of objects. Each example has its merits, and by adopting a consistent approach you are more likely to achieve convincing results.
Drawing 1 shows a pear sketched with a 2B graphite pencil. Here the idea is to convey a sense of form and volume with light and shade - without using colour. This drawing is a reference: compare it with the others to see how they achieve a feeling of three-dimensionality.
Drawing 2 the pears are drawn in coloured pencils. The tonal shading is accurately portrayed, but the effect is like a black and white drawing with the addition of some natural colour. Thiskind of drawing is sometimes produced by beginners in coloured pencil work - the modelling is good but the colour result is much too unadventerous. its similarity to the graphite pencil drawing suggests that colour is not being used to its full potential.
Drawing 3 different, more dynamic, use of colour is employed. Here, the pears are modled by intensities. Combines with this 'colourful' approach a loose, directional layered technique is used. Volume is created by the contrasts between the advancing warm reds and yellows and the receding cool greens, blues and violets. There's hardly any natural colour, and there is less tonal contrast than in 1 or 2, yet the result is a vigerous and vibrant drawing.
Drawing 4 the techniques of 1 and 2 are combined. Natural colour, as in 2, is mainly ignored in favour of colour-modelling the forms. The technique used is non-directional and layered. The three-dimensional effect is achieved by combining tonal contrast, and colour modelling exploiting temperature, intensity and hue. As in 3, the result is a true drawing in colour.
Above: The shadow is as important as the jug in this compostition.
Above: Non-directional layering of the shadow shows the tablecloth pattern quite clearly.
Above: Violet, the complementary colour to that of the tabletop, is used for the shadow. Notice how it fades as it recedes from the jug.
When light falls on a solid object, it not only models its form but also causes the object to cast a shadow. Sometimes these shadows are an important part of a picture's composition, but remember one thing: lack of light does not mean lack of colour. In the first picture of the jug, the tonal qualities of the jug and shadow are almost the same. Only the hard outlines of the jug and the softness of its shadow seperate them pictorially.
Here are a few simple rules to help you draw shadows:
Simplify them: Where several shadows are formed by more than one light source, simplify them into one shape.
Soften edges: Don't draw clearly defines edges to shadows, exept to indicate harsh lighting.
Observe recession: Lighten the tone of the shadow as it gets further away from the object that cast it.
Use colour: Use dark hues to represent shadows, not neutrals.
Keep shadows transparent: Dark tones do not have to be opaque. The surface texture can show through
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| Latest Arts & Craft Ideas
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Hello and Merry Meeting My Friends!
I
do much sculpting in many mediums and have a very easy way for
beginners and advanced artists to learn new ways of having fun and
making expressive art.....read more... | | The best way of mastering the layer technique is to practice with swatches. The ones above employ Derwent Studion pencils on rough cartridge paper, but you can produce similar effects using equivalent pencils from other ranges.
To acieve the colours shown, first lay down three patches of primary colours, using hard pressure at the top then easing off until the paper shows clearly through the pigment. The primary colours used here are....
read more... | |
Combining Techniques
There's no reason why you can't combine techniques within the same painting to suit the subject. In landscapes, skies painted with opaque colour and then overlaid with a transparent wash take on a new kind of luminosity. Likewise, drybrushed trees silhouetted against a neutral background appear myseriously soft, as if painted in pastel.
read more... | |
All objects have a 'natural' tone (called local tone by artists) which describes the amount of light they reflect under 'laboratory' conditions. In reality, however this local tone is affected by the light - natural or artificial - which falls onto an object.That's why normally dark buildings bathed in sunlight can take on a lighter tone, while white buildings in shade appear darker.
More often than not, one part of an object receives a lot of light, while the other parts are in varying degrees of shade...read more... | | Are you fascinated by wonderful old books? Why not transform one of your own boring exercise books into an ancient personal diary!
read more... |
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| Make It Yourself!
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This box is made from an old poster tube decorated with mirror shards. It is an original idea for storing jewellery.
Section of poster tube card
Masking tape
PVA (white) glue
Newspaper
4 marbles
Wallpaper paste
Epoxy resin glue
Chemical metal filler (ie: car-body repair filler)
Mirror fragments
White acrylic primer
Selection of gouache paints (or acrylics)
Glossy varnish
Gold enamel paint
Equipment:
Pencil
Scissors
Pair of compasses
Small and fine paintbrushed
Paint-mixing containers
 Draw round the poster tube end on card, cut it out and tape it to the tube. Cut out a slightly larger lid and another circle 1cm/½in less in diameter. Glue together. Bend a roll of newspaper into a heart shape and tape it to the lid. Cover the marbles with masking tape.
 Cover the box, lid and marbles with several layers of newspaper strips soaked in wallpaper paste. When dry, glue the marbles to the box base with epoxy resin glue. Mix up the filler, spread it on to the lid, and carefully push in the miror fragments.
 Paint the box, excluding the mirror pices, with PVA (white) glue. When dry, prime the box and paint the design with gouache (or acrylic) paints.
 Coat the box with several layers of glossy varnish, and allow to dry thoroughly. Add detail in gold enamel.
Pink satin and lace are the essence of femininity; this delicate bridal favour would be the perfect loving touch for the wedding day of a daughter, sister or friend. The decoration of sequins, pearls and motifs can be as simple or elaborate as you like, and you can be sure that no two of these will ever be the same.
Materials:
Tracing paper
Pink satin fabric
40 x 20 cm/16 x 8 in lace fabric or mat
20 x 20 cm/8 x 8 in contrasting tacking (basting) thread
Ready-made silk flowers (optional)
Matching sewing thread
Flat sequins
Seed pearls
Polyester wadding (batting)
Narrow lace edging
60 cm/24 in short lengths of matching satin ribbon
Equipment:
Pencil
Dressmakers scissors
Dressmakers pins
Very fine needle
Sewing machine (optional)
 Draw a heart and trace it to the required size you want it. Cut out two hearts from pink satin. Place one under the lace fabric or mat, and move it about to find the most attractive pattern area. Pin and then tack (baste) through both layers. Cut the lace, carefully following the outline of the satin heart.
 From the remaining lace, cut flowers and motifs. Sew to the centre of the lace heart. (Or use silk flowers) Add sequins and pearls. Pin the hearts together, right sides facing. Stitch 1 cm/½in in from the edges, leaving a 5cm/2in gap. Trim seams and clip curves. Turn right side out. Fill the heart with wadding (batting) and slip stitch the gap.
 Run a gathering thread along the straight edge of the lace edging and pin one end to the top of the heart. Adjusting the gathers evenly, continue to pin the lace around the outside edge and then slip stitch it firmly in place with small, invisible stitches. Remove the gathering thread. Finish with a hanging loop, small ribbon bows and additional beads and sequins.
Recommended Publications
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| Country Crafts
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Fix bunches of fresh herbs to a thick plaited rope, add tiny terracotta pots to give the design structure and then fill it in with garlic and colourful chillies to make a spicy, herbal gift full of Provencal flavour, for anyone who loves to cook.
Materials
Hank of seagrss string
Scissors
Florist's wire
Fresh sage
Fresh thyme
Fresh oregano
2 small flowerpots
6 florist's stub wires
2 garlic heads
Hot glue gun and glue sticks (optional)
Large red chillies
 Cut lengths of seagrass string about three times as long as the desired finished length of the henging. Take two lengths, fold them in half and place them under a length of garden string. Pass the cut ends over the string and through the loop of the fold, thereby knotting the seagrass on to the garden string. Repeat twice with the remaining four seagrass lengths. Divide the seagrass into three bundles of four lengths and plait them to form the base of the herb hanging. Finish the end of the plait by binding it with a separate piece of seagrass string.
 Using florist's wire, bind the herbs into small bundles and tie each one with garden string. Use this to tie them to the plaited base. Wire the flowerpots by passing two stub wires through the central hole and twisting the ends together.
 Wire the pots to the base by passing a stub wire through the wires on the pots, passing it throgh the plait, and then twisting the ends together.
 Tie garden string around the garlic heads and tie these to the base. Wire or glue the chillies into position, and fill the pots with more chillies.
Recycle a glass bottle containing home-made lotion and decorate it with corrugated card in gem-like colours for a real impact. Take a look at our Lotions & Potions page for ideas to fill the bottle. This makes a lovely gift for someone special!
 Materials
Scissors
Coloured corrugated card
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Coloured raffia
Cut the corrugated card to size, and then glue in position around the bottle. Tie with raffia.
Make a matching label from the corrugated card, and tie it on using raffia.
Decorate a jar of lotion to comlement the bottle, using brilliantly coloured fine corrugated card. Royal blue and emerald green make rich combination that could be used for both men and women.
Materials:
Scissors
Coloured corrugated card
Baby-food jar
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Cut the corrugated card to size, and then glue in place around the jar. Tie the twine around the jar.
Cut a piece of corrugated card to fit the top of the lid and glue it in place. Glue twine to cover the side of the lid.
Recommended Publications
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| Dough Craft
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You will need:
Large mixing bowl
Coffee mug
Water jug
Cool surface for kneading
Basic Recipe
2 level mugs plain white flour
1 level mug finely ground salt
355ml/12fl oz lukewarm water
Method
Pou the flour and salt into a mixing bowl and combine thoroughly. Gradually add enough water to knead the mixture into a pliable ball. Tis may take more or less than 355ml/12fl oz of water in the recipe (depending on the flour you use and the temperature of the room). Judge the exact amount by feel - if the mixture becomes too sticky, add a little more flour. If it crumbles, add more water.
 Kneading
The more you knead it , the smoother and more pliable salt dough becomes. Work the dough for at least ten minuets with slow, rythmic movements, pushing it away from you with the heels of your hands, then folding it back on itself. Repeat the process again and again, turning the whole wad of dough regularly. Well-prepared dough is firm, malleable and elastic enough to stretch into a soft, slightly bouncy "rope" when gently pulled.
Tips
- The dough reacts best to warm (but not hot) working environment. The dough itself is a good temperature gauge (it becomes soft, sticky and moist in an over-heated room).
- Keep your hands as cool and dry as possible when working with dough.
- Always work on a cool, dry surface.
Storing Raw Dough
Take as much dough as you need for the project in-hand, wrap the rest in cling-film (or seal it in an air-tight container) and store in the refrigerator. When you are ready to use it, bring the stored dough back to room temerature by kneading it thoroughly.
- Dough gets soggy quite quickly and it doesn't store well for more than a day (or two days at the most), so only make as much as you can reasonably use.
- When putting dough to one side to use for a project underway, cover it with a dry clth (only use a damp cloth when dough needs moistening).
Dough Paste
Dough paste plays an important part in salt-dough craft, and only takes seconds to prepare. It is best to mix a fresh batch with each new project you embark on.
To make dough paste
- When you have prepared your raw dough, tear off a peanut-sized piece of dough (for larger amounts of paste, tear off a bigger lump of dough).
- To make a standard, watery paste, put the dough into a saucer or lid and add lukewarm water, drop by drop. Mix until the dough becomes tacky and then add more water to thin it out.
- For a thicker paste, use the same method, but stop adding water when the paste is a soft, buttery consistency.
Approximate Baking Times & Temperatures:
Thinner objects - 5mm (¼in) thick - 150 ºC (300ºF), Gas Mark 2 for 3-4 hours
Aga 120ºC (250ºF) for 7 hours in warming oven.
Thicker objects - 1cm (3/8in) thick - 150ºC (300ºF), gas Mark 2 for 6-7 hours
Aga 120ºC (250ºF) for 10 hours in warming oven.
NOTE: Fan-assisted ovens tend to bake salt dough more quickly during the early stages. Take care to check your dough regularly. Projects decorated with solid pices of dough relief will take about 10-12 hours to bake. Solid hand-modelled items should be left int he oven for 6-7 hours.
This makes a perfect gift for those fascinated by the mystery of the sea. As long as you pre-heat you oven to a low setting and leave the dough to cool down in the oven after baking, this project can be baked with the mirror embedded into it. And because the edges of the mirror will be hidden by a rolled dough frame, you cna use a piece of broken mirror instead of a brand new one. To convey the impression of shimmering sea water, brush washes of green paint onto the base of the plaque and then rub-over with gold. Emphasize the relief-work on the mirror by colouring the mermaids in contrasting shades and burnish with highlights of gold.
Materials & Equipment:
Salt dough (see above)
Dough paste (see above)
Non-stick baking sheet
Rolling pin
Ruler
Cardboard (to draw your mermaid template)
Small kichen knife
Small wooden spatula
Pocket-sized mirror (about 6cm/2½in wide) and 3mm (1/8 in) thick
Garlic press
Pastry brush
Brushes for applying dough paste, paints & varnish
Water-based paints (I prefer acrylics)
Gloss polyurethane varnish
 Roll out dough to the thickness of about 5mm (¼in). Using a ruler, cut out a rectangle measuring about 14 x 19cm (5½ x 7½in). Smooth and tidy any rough edges with a spatula or damp pastry brush. Now score a border about 5mm (¼in) in from the edge of your dough rectangle.
 Position the mirror in the middle of the top half of the rectangle. (The lower edge of the mirror should be about 10cm (4in) ip from the scored lineat the foor of the rectangle) Press the mirror into the dough gently (don't press too hard, or you will distort the dough).
 Roll a suasage of dough (about 1cm (3/8in) thick) by hand. Attach the sausage around the mirror with dough paste. Make sure that it is firmly attached and that its edges are sealed. Score the inner edge and make indentations all the way around the frame with the end of a paint brush.
 Roll out dough to a thickness of about 5mm (¼in). Cut around your mermaid template. Tidy any rough edges with a spatula or damp pastry brush and put this dough shape aside. Now turn the template over and cut around it to make another mermaid in reverse. Tidy any rough edges. using the photograph as a guide, arrange the mermaids on the base shape and attch them with dough paste.
 To make the mermaids' hair, push balls of dough through a garlic press. Arrange and attach these strands, using the photograph as a guide. To make the arms, roll out two sausages of dough (about 6cm (2¼in) long and 1cm (3/8in) wide) and position one on each mermaid. Using a damp paint brush, press and blend the edges into the bodies of the mermaids.
 Score a line across each body to define the start of the tail. To give the impression of scales, make indentations all over each mermaid's tail using the end of a paint brush. Bake in a pre-heated oven at the coolest setting. When the dough is baked, switch off andleave it inside the oven to cool down. Paint and varnish.
This frame is simple to make and easy to adapt to suit your own ideas. The surround has been scored to produce a patchwork effect and wire loops have been embedded in the back of the frame (to hold photographs and pictures in place). These loops must be flexible, so use thinner wire than 1mm - type recommended for hanging loops - 30 amp fuse wires is ideal. A hand-made finish gives home-produced patchwork its special appeal, so slight imperfections will add to this project's charm. If you prefer patterned patches, paint your own designs in all or some of the squares before varnishing. The finished frame should be simple and eye-catching - so stick to a few, carefully chosen colours for a truly traditional effect.
Materials & Equipment:
Salt dough (see above)
Dough paste (see above)
Non-stick baking sheet
Ruler
Rolling pin
Frame template (made from card)
Small kitchen knife
Small wooden spatula
Brushes for applying dough paste, paints and varnish
Pastry brush
1mm thick wire, about 7cm (2¼in)
Flexible wire (fuse wire is ideal, about 12cm (4¾in)
Wire cutters
Round-ended pliers
Water-based paints (acrylics are good)
Gloss polyurethane varnish
 Working straight onto baking sheet, roll out dough to a thickness of about 1cm (3/8in). Lay the framee template on top of the dough and cut around it with a sharp knife. Tidy any rough edges with a spatula or damp pastry brush.
 Cut four pieces of flexible wire about 3cm (1¼in) long. Treat each piece of wire as though you were making a hanging loop. Now embed the hooks in the back of the frame, position them according to the photograph. Make a hanging loop from the 7cm (2¾in) length of thicker wire. Embed it in the frame.
 Half-bake the frame face down. Meanwhile, roll out more dough, this time to a thickness of about 5mm (¼in). Following step 1, cut out another frame. When the first frame is half-baked, take it from the oven. carefully turn it over. Lay the raw dough on top of the half-backed frame. (The warmth from the lower frame should seal both pieces together)
 Seal all edges with dough paste, filing and smoothing any gaps as you go. Using a sharp knife, score in the patchwork squares and stitching detail. Return the frame to the oven and bake through. Paint, using the finished photograph as a guide. Varnish.
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| Funky Art
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Are you fascinated by wonderful old books? Why not transform one of your own boring exercise books into an ancient personal diary!
Materials:
Writing book and cloth
Toilet paper
Glue mixture (PVA)
Shoe polish
Paint
Pencil
Paintbrush
Marker pen
Take a plain exercise or hardback writing book and lay strips of toilet paper on the cover. Paint over the strips with the glue mixture. The toilet paper will stick to the book as it soaks up all the glue.
Cover the whole of the front and back of your book. It's also a good idea to coat the inside of the cover too, as this will help to stop the book warping outwards as it dries. Leave your book to dry overnight.
Your book is now ready to decorate. To make it look old, dra fancy hinges on the sides and metal ends with nails at the corners. Let others know it's a private diary by putting a lock and keyhole on it!
When your design is done, take some more strips of toilet paper and dip them into the glue mixture. Squeeze out the excess glue and use this pulp to build up your design into a 3D relief. Leave it to dry overnight.
Your cover is now ready to colour. You can use acrylic or poster paint, or even rub in some brown show polish for an "old leather" effect. (Use a cloth for the polish)
To finish off, colour the keyhole, hinges, and nails with gold paint. Draw around the edges of them with a black marker pen.
 Try different looks for some of your other books!
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| Do YOU Have Any Arty Ideas?
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