Country Painting - The Materials -

The material for Country Painting that is needed to get started is:

• Support to decorate
• Acrylic Colors
• Brush Cleaning Tray
• Graphite Paper
• Paper Palette
• Styluses
• Tracing Paper
• Brushes

Decorative Support

In the Basic Material for Country Painting, the Support is naturally the first thing to decide, which is where you want to paint the project you have chosen.

As I have already written in the article Country Painting .. what is it? the Country Painting can be applied to any type of support, wood, fabric, glass, etc. 

Very often projects are painted on a wooden support cut following the actual shape of the design.

The supports that I generally use in my projects are made of wood, laser-cut with the main lines of the design already engraved.

This is the wooden support I created for my project “Lullaby on the Moon“, see how each single support is cut exactly in the shape of the design you find inside the pattern and both on the cradle and on the little animals, the main lines of the design are already engraved.	In this other image, as you can see, there is a simple shaped MDF plaque on which you can paint any type of design because its shape is "neutral"
This è taken from my Pattern “Live, Dream, Paint” . It’s painted on a cotton muslin and then è sewn to create a small pillow.	In this case the support è a glass block, I painted it during a course with Holly Hanley.  The base è in glass prepared so that it can be painted later with Decoart acrylic colors. The project è taken from the book “Sunshine Kisses” Vol 7 by Holly Hanley

As you could see, the choice of support is solely up to you, based on what idea and for what purpose you are painting the project. Regardless of the type of support you choose to use, know that the “technique” of painting is always the same; only the preparation of the support changes, and possibly, as in the case of painting on fabric, it is necessary to use the appropriate medium for the color.

Acrylic Colors

In Country Painting , acrylic colors are used. They are water-based colors with a creamy consistency and very easy to apply. They are very resistant to light and have excellent resistance to weather conditions, making them suitable for objects placed outdoors. Personally, I use acrylic colors from Decoart , which, in my opinion, are the best for 

Country Painting both in terms of quality and color range. 

Brush Cleaning Tray

You can find different types on the market.

As you can see from the photos, aside from the shape, which can be round, rectangular, and so on, the important thing is the inside of the tray. 

You can see that it is divided into three parts. One (the largest one) at the bottom has a small “grid” that helps to clean the brushes well, especially near the ferrule. The other two (the smaller ones) are for having always clean water at hand, which is of fundamental importance when you are painting shades and highlights.

Graphite Paper

Graphite paper is a special paper that allows you to trace the drawing onto the surface.

The principle is like that of the old carbon paper, with the difference that graphite paper (as the name itself suggests) is made of graphite, the same material as pencils, and therefore, unlike the old carbon paper, it can be easily erased with an eraser (usually I use a kneaded eraser).

There are two types:

the white one that is used when you need to trace a drawing on a dark background	the black one that is used when you need to trace a drawing on a light background.

Paper Palette

Among all the materials for Country Painting, I would say that the Paper Palette is essential!!

It is an album made up of "coated" sheets; the one you see in the photo is white, and there is also a version with gray sheets available, which is very useful when working with light colors.

These sheets are absolutely indispensable because this is where we create the floats, i.e., the shadows and highlights.

The great advantage of using these special sheets is given by the fact that each sheet can be cleaned with a damp piece of paper or a sponge and can be reused more than once. So believe me, an album really lasts you a long time!!!

Bulini

The Bulini are truly very useful and versatile tools. They come in different sizes, sold individually or in sets. They are primarily used to transfer the drawing, with the help of graphite paper, onto the support to be painted (they are used like a pencil but obviously leave no mark). 

They can also be used to paint details in projects, dots, eyes, centers of flowers, etc…

Tracing Paper

Tracing paper is a semi-transparent sheet that you can find anywhere, at stationery stores, on Amazon, at the supermarket.

The drawing must be transferred onto the tracing paper so that it can then be transferred onto the support; this type of paper is used because thanks to its “transparency” you have the ability to see and thus perfectly position the drawing on the support.

To transfer the drawing onto the tracing paper you have two alternatives:

• tracing it by hand with a pen or pencil
• printing the drawing directly onto tracing paper (which is much simpler, more precise, and faster)

Brushes

On this subject, I could write for years!! But we will have a chance to delve deeper… I will dedicate an entire article to brushes.

The most famous brands used in Country Painting are JO SONIA’S, LOEW CORNELL,  DYNASTY.

Know that every artist has their "favorite" brushes, the choice depends a lot on style, on the hand,  on how each of us feels best but above all on the work and effect they want to achieve.

Personally, I use JO SONIA brushes and purchase them from the site OUT of the WOOD.

If you are just starting out, you don't need to worry. My advice is to try more brands, only then will you be able to understand and realize what your preferred type of brushes is.

In general, know that each brush has a particular shape and this allows you to create a certain type of effect.

Types of Brushes

• Angled (Angle) : they are suitable for laying down bases especially in corners as well as for blending because, as you will discover later, they allow you to quickly see which side has the color.
• Round (Round) : they are suitable for both laying down bases and painting petals, flowers, twigs, etc.
• Flat (Flat, Shade) : they are suitable for both laying down bases and creating highlights and shadows.
• Filbert (Filbert) : used for both laying down bases and painting flower petals.
• Liner : used for painting letters and details.
• Stencil : they are specifically used with Stencil masks, having stiff bristles to allow for precise work without smudging.
• Mop : the magic brush par excellence, it allows you to blend the color after creating a shadow or light using the FLOAT technique.
• Oval Dry: they are used to create dry highlights

I hope this article has been helpful to you.
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Happy Painting 🎨

Paola