John's porcelain tea pots, cookie jars, Toby jugs and dishware can all be painted using acrylic paints and his methods for finishing. John teaches workshops on painting and they are very well received - all students come away with a great finished piece (or two or three or more *g*). I promised I would put up a workshop for those who wanted a 'refresher'.
Here is a tutorial on how to paint the Humpty Dumpty cookie jar. The methods used are the same for painting all John's porcelain pieces. John uses two small dowels - pointed on one end (use a pencil sharpener) and a block of wood with two holes drilled in it to hold the dowels. This gives you a third, and fourth, hand when working.
And be sure to purchase 'Extender' for your paint. It can be found where you buy the regular jars of acrylic paint.
Click on the 'Miniature Ceramics' button to see which porcelain pieces are available.
HUMPTY DUMPTY COOKIE JAR:
Start by putting a small blob of wax on one end of one of the dowels. For smaller lids, use the pointed end. Stick the end of the dowel into the wax to make things easier for yourself.
Roll the wax into a dome shape on the end of the dowel so that there is no wax hanging over the edges. This blob should be about 1/8" deep or less. You don't want extra wax getting in your way.
Lightly push the dowel into the porcelain lid, enough so that it will stay on securely while handling.
Shake up a dark paint colour. I used Dusty Mauve. Take off the jar lid and stick a toothpick into the cap.
Roll the paint onto the palette.
Add a drop of Extender (available where you purchase your acrylic paint - and VERY important!) to the palette - at least 1/2" away from the paint dot because you do not want the paint and Extender to mix on their own.
Load the brush with Extender
Pull paint from the edge of the paint dot with the loaded Extender brush. If you don't have enough Extender, go back and pick up a little bit more.
The paint should be translucent - like watercolour paint.
Paint your initials and the year on the bottom of the base of the piece.
Once this has dried, then attach the base to the second dowel using the same method you used for attaching the lid.
Clean your brushes between colours. Start by swishing the brush back and forth quite fast. DON'T let the bristles touch the bottom of the container!
Starting near the bottom of the container, place your bristles up against the side wall. Drag the bristles up the side wall, spinning the brush between your thumb and finger as you go. This will help maintain a nice fine point.
Remove excess water from the brush using the top edge of the container.
Start the painting with a light or medium skin tone. Use a small drop of flesh and a drop of extender to mix. Dip the brush in the extender and pull the colour from the side of your paint. Mix the colour to watercolour consistency. It is not necessary to use all of the paint when mixing. We use very little paint when applying it this way.
Brace your forearms against the edge of the table to help eliminate any unsteadiness. I also use my baby finger from the paint brush hand to push against the index finger of the other hand while I am painting. You can see that I am left handed.
Begin by painting the entire face and head. Put the paint on as a light wash. Be sure to paint the 'neck' where it fits into the bottom of the cookie jar.
Paint the arms on the body piece. They are on each side near the top. DON'T have too much paint on the brush. Roll any extra paint onto the palette.
Still using the flesh colour, paint the legs from the knees down, and include the feet.
Use a fresh drop of extender and a tiny drop of yellow. I used daffodil yellow. Paint the necktie (just at the front) and then paint the little yellow flower below the necktie.
Use the same extender and a drop of light grass green for the next step. Keep the paint to a wash-like consistency as you will be putting another colour over top. Don't paint over top of the flower! Paint the grass at the bottom of the piece. It is just at the front. The sides and the back are part of the wall.
Add a bit of blue to your mixed green. I used a nice dark blue. Make the paint thin and apply it as a wash over the green. This will go into the 'indents' and give your grass texture.
The next colour I used is white. Paint the collar, all the way around the top of the neck, but be careful not to paint over the arms.
Put a small dot of white on each eye. When painting the white on the eyes, it is best to start at the bottom of the eye and work up to the top where it is grooved.
Put a fresh drop of extender on your palette and put a drop of red beside it. I used Red Apple.
You might find it best to partially unload your brush by drawing lines on your palette, as fine detail is required and you don't want a lot of paint on the brush.
Paint his suit. Paint all around the body. The back is basically a thin line between the collar and the wall. Paint his trousers at the top of his legs - he is wearing short trousers.
If the paint goes outside the area, use a toothpick with a bit of water on it, or use your brush with water, to take it off. If the paint has not set too long, the brush will work well. However, if it has been on for a while, use the pointy toothpick.
The general rule is to start by touching your brush to the centre of the area that you are going to paint. Then work to the outside edges. You will find that the lines etched into the porcelain piece will help keep the paint within the area.
Using the same red, paint the mouth. The less paint on your brush, the better. Draw the very tip of the brush across the line of the mouth. This should be enough, but you can extend the bottom lip if you wish. If you do decide to extend the bottom lip, just do the central 1/3 of the mouth.
The paint will puddle in the mouth line and give definition.
Thin the red paint to water consistency and do the 'blush' of the cheeks. Again, draw paint off the brush so you don't get blobbling. Start at the bottom of the cheek and work up to below the eye.
Clean and dry your brush and use the dry brush to feather the outside edges of the blush into the flesh tone of the face.
Put the tip of your brush into the original red paint dot and get a tiny amount of paint. Touch the brush to the centre of the yellow flower.
Use fresh extender and a light blue for the blue of the eyes and the decoration on the collar. I used Baby Blue. With the tip of the brush, take up a very small amount of the blue. Put a dot in the upper middle of each eye. Watch to see that the eyes are looking in the same direction. Make sure to leave some white showing! If the first iris is not in the middle of the eye, then do the second eye looking the same way.
With the same blue, put a pattern of dots on the collar. You could also do lines or dashes if you wished, but the dots look good.
Put a drop of black on your palette. Be careful with black because it is so strong. It will overpower everything.
Carefully paint shoes on Humpty's feet. Start by painting the soles, and then do a thin band around the foot.
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Next we work on the eyes again. The eyes are done by painting a very fine black line right across the top of the eye, in the crease. Then a small black dot is added on top of the blue for the pupil. Keep the pupil toward the top of the eye. It seems to work best if the pupil touches the black line. And keep both eyes looking the same direction!
You should have blue, black and white on your palette at this point (plus some other colours, but those are the three you need next). Mix some of the white into the blue, and then mix in a very tiny bit of black. You want to achieve a slate or stone colour. The colours do not have to be thoroughly blended - it is a personal preference thing.
The paint should be thin enough that it will flow into the crevices. And remember that if you get this wall paint where you do not want it, you can quickly remove it with a clean dry brush.
You are now ready to paint the wall! Start at the back and work your way to the front so that you don't have to worry about having too much paint on your brush. You don't want it to run into the grass.
When painting larger surfaces, try to keep the brush strokes all going in the same direction.
Use the same paint to do the eyebrows. Work from the inside to the outside and remember you really don't need very much paint.
THE PAINTING IS FINISHED.....
NOTE!!!!! Make sure to let everything dry well. The paint is dry to the touch in about a minute, but you should leave it for at least half an hour before you do the next step. If you don't.... you may find that you have no paint on your piece when you are finished! Personally, I like to leave it as long as possible.
Take a short nap..... just as I am doing *bg*.
I make a spray booth from a cardboard box. I like it to be large so that it will catch any overspray.
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Hold the spray can (Acrylic High Gloss Clear Coat) about 8" to 12" away from your piece. Spray the pieces one at a time. It is best to hold the dowels in your hand as you do it, rather than leave them in the stand.
Use a 'micro burst' of spray on the front and on the back of the piece. Don't worry if you don't get total coverage. When it dries you can repeat if necessary.
If you put the spray on too thickly, it can peel the paint off or leave blobs which tend to yellow, so best to use two light coats sparingly.
Allow the spray to dry thoroughly before removing the piece from the dowel. If you put the lid on the piece too soon, it will be permanently bonded. Best to leave it overnight.
................................................I hope that you enjoy this workshop. If you need to ask me any questions, please email john@swallowhill-miniatures.com.
Have fun, but please remember that these tutorials, photos, and instructions are protected by copyright, and are not to be used as a tutorial of your own. This means that you may not copy or post this tutorial to your own website - or print it out for someone else to use - or sell it - or distribute it as your own.
If you want to share this workshop, please direct people to this web site.
Porcelain pieces are available from John. Click on 'Miniature Ceramics' in the left margin.
