Painted Furniture Available Now Painted Furniture Gallery Pastel Paintings Watercolor Paintings Classes Ordering Information Design Process Decorative Painting Tips Pastel Painting Tips Watercolor Tips My Blog Privacy Policy Site Map Contact Information             Copyright 2007 Dorothy Winchell     Design Process--Painted Furniture                  When I purchased this sofa table, it was already primed white.  I chose the taupe for the legs and the borders as it it a neutral color that will work well in any decor.  I had already decided that I would paint birds from Maine.  I then decided to paint apple tree branches and blossoms, as the blossoms can vary from hot pink to white.  You can see my sketchbook and reference photos of birds laid out on the table (for placement).   I’ve roughly sketched the branches on the table with acrylic paint.   I lightly sponged green paint where the blossoms will be, as they will disappear on the white background without it.    I decided to use a grisaille technique on the blossoms and leaves.  This involves layering in the different values in gray, then later glazing over the item with color.  These two pictures show the middle value.       Here are the blossoms with the dark value laid in.                       And again with the highlights.                 Sometimes after I start painting the main elements, I forget to take pictures...sorry!  Anyway, the next stage on the flowers was to glaze the pink colors over the top, and then strengthen the shadows and highlights.  I then sketched the birds onto the table, and did the same grisaille technique on them.