Created by Jeanne Collick, Helping Artist

Jeanne Collick began painting in 1976 at a shop in Plainwell, MI, called the Little Red Hen. It quickly became a passion and stress reliever from the demands of full time high school/middle school teaching. In 1988, Betsy Hill, Little Red Hen owner, gave Collick the opportunity to teach painting. Since then, she has been teaching locally for West Michigan Decorative Painters, Michigan Grapevine Decorative Painters, Valley Tole, Northern Expressions Decorative Artists, and Friends In Art, as well as at Michigan Mixers and HOOT in Columbus, OH. Collick has been a member of the Society of Decorative Painters since 1986 and active in her local chapters in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. Since her retirement from full time high school/middle school teaching in 2006, she has continued to teach in her home studio as well as pursue travel teaching.

The tray Collick designed as this month’s Helping Artist project features the magnificent and regal monarch butterfly in a field of rich, springtime Americana® Acrylic colors.

DecoArt supplies

Americana Acrylics

• DAO10 Cadmium Yellow
• DAO17 Georgia Clay
• DAO62 Terra Cotta
• DAO67 Lamp (Ebony) Black
• DAO82 Evergreen
• DA101 Dioxazine Purple
• DA144 Yellow Light
• DA168 Golden Straw
• DA177 Green Mist
• DA239 Warm White
• DA264 Mustard Seed
• DA282 Green Tea
• DA284 Spicy Mustard

Dazzling Metallics

• DA148 Emperor’s Gold

Sealers / Finishes

• DS17 Multi-Purpose Sealer
• DS21 DuraClear Satin Varnish

Americana Mediums

• DS18 Glazing Medium

Additional supplies

Surface

• Wooden octagonal tray, Hobby Lobby #646067L

Supplies

• 1” painter’s tape
• Fine grit sandpaper
• Palette paper
• Tracing paper
• Graphite
• Water bucket
• Paper towels
• Stylus
• 18/0 liner brush
• #2 round brush
• #4 filbert brush
• #8 filbert brush
• Black fitch deer foot brush
• Large wash brush
• ½” angle brush
• Mop brush
• Old toothbrush

Preparation

1. To save steps, mix Multi-Purpose Sealer with Warm White and basecoat and seal wooden tray.
2. Sand when dry and apply second coat of just Warm White.
3. When dry, apply painter’s tape to inside of tray, sealing edges with fingernail.

Instructions

Background

1. Using large wash brush, apply Warm White to center and, while still wet, pick up some Golden Straw and apply using slip-slap, back-and- forth motion blend into upper edge.
2. Pick up some Warm White with some Evergreen and work this into lower edge of taped-off center. Blend with mop if needed. Add some Dioxazine Purple in same manner softening with Warm White and mop brush.
3. Use same procedure, wet into wet, for sides of tray.

Foliage and Flowers

1. Dampen deer foot brush and blot out most of moisture. Touch into Evergreen and pounce along lower edge. Add some Green Mist to lighten here and there.
2. Wash deer foot brush and blot. Pick up a little Dioxazine Purple and Warm White and tap in flowers. (There are three more obvious ones, but you can add more. Keep these light, but varied in color.)
3. Using #8 filbert brush, create leaves with two strokes and Green Mist. Shade base of these when dry with Evergreen and highlight tip with Green Tea.
4. Load #8 filbert brush with Glazing Medium and Green Mist to create shadow leaves, placing them where fillers are needed. Attach all leaves with liner brush loaded in Green Mist and Evergreen.
5. Flowers are created with #4 filbert brush loaded into Warm White and tipped with Dioxazine Purple. They are stroked on with beginning at top with one stroke. As you move down flower cluster create some four petal flowers. Keep these loose and dot centers with Golden Straw on stylus.
6. Float along bottom taped edge with Evergreen.

Monarch

1. Transfer on basic outline of wings and body. Undercoat upper wings with Spicy Mustard; lower wings with Golden Straw; and body with Lamp Black. When dry, change to Mustard Seed for top wings and Cadmium Yellow for lower wings.
2. When good coverage has been achieved and outline is dry, apply markings with gray graphite.
3. Float shade upper wing sections with Terra Cotta + Georgia Clay. Highlight outer edges of each section with Cadmium Yellow.
4. Float shade lower sections with Terra Cotta + Spicy Mustard. Highlight outer edges of each section with Yellow Light.
5. Place some of the markings on upper wings with three rectangular-shaped markings in Terra Cotta and four or five in Cadmium Yellow. (White ones can be placed over black after it has been filled in.)
6. Thin Lamp Black to ink consistency and line sections with 18/0 liner brush. Using #2 round brush, fill in remaining Lamp Black, going around Yellow Light and Terra Cotta markings.
7. Float shade with Georgia Clay both upper and lower wings as well as Terra Cotta rectangles.
8. Float shade with Georgia Clay + Lamp Black next to body of butterfly on both upper and lower wings. Repeat this step if needed.
9. Float Emperor’s Gold on outer edges of each section on both upper and lower wing sections.
10. Clean line work with Lamp Black if necessary and add antennas as well as three rows of Warm White dashes along outer edges of wings, one on very edge and two between edge and Emperor’s Gold sections.
11. Add Warm White markings on body: four pairs of spots and dashes with one line in center.

Finishing details

1. Remove 1” tape and line around octagon with Emperor’s Gold.
2. Paint top edge of tray with Emperor’s Gold.
3. Using old tooth brush, slightly thin Emperor’s Gold and spatter entire surface.
4. Sign your work and apply three coats of DuraClear Satin Varnish to seal.

Patterns

Click on the pattern below to view it full-size for printing.

Print these instructions