Iridescent Peacock Feathers With Acrylic Paint

Iridescent Peacock Feathers are the feature of today's tutorial. Peacocks have been the subject for countless works of art due to their glorious plumage. Although I don't pretend to be a master painter, I can let you in on a little secret for how to get that signature peacock iridescence using a gold wash of acrylic paint.

I started with a wood model and an assortment of acrylics. I painted sample stripes of blues, greens, and browns on white cardstock. When those had dried I painted over them with stripes of metallic paint. The sheer metallics gave the colors an iridescent sheen and I had only to choose which color combinations I liked best.

For the body I choose Aqua and Blue, for the feet and beak, Brown. I painted the tail feathers in Blue, Brown, Green, Lime Green, and Antique Gold

 I carefully assembled the peacock and assigned colors to body parts. The original model planned for the eyes of the feathers to be punched out. I choose to leave them in but gave them an extra layer of paint to hold them there.

 Peacock wings, neck, and body alternate between light and dark blue. To get a similar look I painted the pieces with Aqua, let them dry, then splattered them with Blue. When those layers had dried I added a thin layer of Blue over it all.

 The base of the tail and back of the peacock I painted in Lime Green. I splattered the pieces with Brown to give the impression of multi colored feathers. A layer of Antique Gold added the iridescent look I had planned.

 The tail feathers took the longest to paint. I began with a layer of Aqua on the eye of the feathers and Lime Green on the rest. After a second layer of Aqua and Lime, I framed the eye with Brown and the outer edge of the feathers with Green. I added a dab of Blue to the center of the eye. The final layer of paint, Antique Gold, gives the tail feathers that iridescent gleam.

 I grew up with visits to Grandma's farm and her many types of fowl. Although the turkeys were my favorite, the peacocks were unmatched for beauty. I spent many long hours gathering peacock feathers from the pastures and woods. There is something so glorious about bringing in armfuls of blue and green feathers that flash gold in the sunlight.

This glorious peacock model was purchased off Amazon. The paints are from Canvas Corp Brands, and that amazing 3-D Taj Mahal was assembled by my daughter Lori.

Craft On

~charity~

Fairy Palace With High Impact Paint

Today's show -n- tell starts as a 3-D wood puzzle and ends a Fairy Palace with Tattered Angels High Impact Paint. For a detailed tutorial including construction tips stop by the

Canvas Corp Blog

 The intricate details on the towers and walls are made with Calambour: Touch 3D Glossy Effect. This water based gel can be applied with a paint brush or through a stencil with a palette knife. Several hours are needed for drying time, but the results are stunning.

 Here Ducat Gold is applied through a Pebbles stencil.

 Light blue was added to the castle walls through another Pebbles stencil.

 The upper level of the castle is decorated with Rich Gold through fine, brass stencils.

Calambour 3D Gel and Tattered Angels High Impact Paint are the perfect pairing for this fairy palace!

Scrap On

~charity~

How To Make a Beautiful Model With Colorful Paint

Today I have a few tips and photos for how to use colorful paint to make a beautiful model. I had Spine Surgery in mid-July. To keep me occupied with out overdoing it my daughter suggested we assemble and paint this wooden St. Petersburgh Cathedral.  

We have nearly the full collection of Deco Art Dazzling Mettalics paints and have been eager to use them on a project.

These wood models are difficult to assemble. They contain many pieces and they don't quite fit together right. We have done many so we were ready with a craft knife for trimming and hot glue for assembling. We use the hot glue more as a sealer that fills in for the pieces that aren't there.

We assembled in layers, fine tuning each piece to fit and lay properly before we painted. Two layers of acrylic paint give sufficient coverage. We always add a coat of paint to the back to avoid glaring edges. 

For this model we purchased a string of LED lights. To create a glow I added vellum to the windows. ScraPerfect's Best Glue Ever attached the vellum without leaving marks. Spreading a thin layer of the glue and letting it dry to a semi-gloss ensured perfect attachment.

 One nights work was done in such a rush that it had to be resurfaced the next day. For this I used ScraPerfect's solvent, Best Cleaner Ever. I spritzed it on the pieces, let them sit for a few minutes, then rubbed off the layers of black and silver paint. 

For our project we used 9 colors of paint in a variety of combinations. We completed the ground floor and central tower first. We used variations of that design to decorate the other towers. The spires are divided into 5 Purple/Gold, 2 Blue/Silver, 2 Green/Silver, and 2 Plum and Olive with Silver. The roof of the first floor is primarily Teal, and Black cleanses the pallet between layers of color.

For our project we used 9 colors of paint in a variety of combinations. We completed the ground floor and central tower first. We used variations of that design to decorate the other towers. The spires are divided into 5 Purple/Gold, 2 Blue/Silver, 2 Green/Silver, and 2 Plum and Olive with Silver. The roof of the first floor is primarily Teal, and Black cleanses the pallet between layers of color. 

Don't worry if your model leans a little or is missing pieces. The finished project is about the time spent together and the joy of accomplishment. Perfection isn't a necessary ingredient for happiness.

Supplies:
3-D Wood Model:Sea Land (Amazon)
Acrylic Paint:Deco Art
Vellum, Hot Glue:Hobby Lobby
Glue, Solvent:ScraPerfect

Scrap On!

~charity~