Decorative and Tole Painting Lessons

Last Thursday we promised you we'd show you how to save money. This week, we'll deliver a series of quick, easy to follow stroke painting lessons. Then, we'll show you where you can find these strokes at retail… items you won't need to buy, because you'll have the skills you need to create similar looks- for less!

Decorative Painting, interchangeably known as Tole Painting, comes from a long history of adding paint to a variety of surfaces- basically anything other than canvas. This week of National Craft Month, we’d like to introduce you to this hobby by introducing you to the basics that make it up.

We'll take today to give you the basics of what you'll need, and then tomorrow we'll start on a Decorative Painting Basic Stroke Tutorial, showing you how easily you can complete these strokes and how easy it is to integrate the practice into your home decor!

Your paintbrush should be held perpendicular to the surface you're painting on, straight up and down, and should NOT be held at a slant like a pencil. Brush stroke movement should come from the shoulder and your entire arm should move through the stroke. Many artists recommend using your little finger to balance on, moving your little finger along with your arm through the stroke. Others recommend having no hand contact with the surface at all. Try it both ways and use whatever works best for you.

And, of course, always use quality brushes in excellent condition. Using brushes in poor condition, such as a round pointed brush whose point is no longer well defined, can be very discouraging and may cause you to give up on learning stroke work when, in fact, the brush is actually the problem.

The more you practice your brush strokes, the more rewarding your results will be. Keep a brush, a bottle of paint and practice paper handy and practice as often as you can, even if only for a few minutes at a time. Keep your supplies by the phone and practice while you talk. If you're like me and cannot possibly do only one thing at a time, practice while you watch TV. Date your practice pages so you can refer back to them and chart your progress. And remember, your strokes don't have to be perfect. Minor variations give them character and make your painting unique :-)

Tole-expressions.com