Brush Stroke Painting Practice

Today's activity will practice your brush strokes. This will get you ready for your painting project. First you're going to demonstrate that you can use a dry brush. This means you'll add a small amount of paint to the brush and wipe most of the paint off on a paper towel. Then when you make marks on your paper you'll notice it shows rough textures. Next you will sample wavy lines. I like to get my paintbrush a little bit wet for this and I take a dab of paint and very very carefully with a lot of control I try to make thin lines that show some movements. It helps to just use the very tip of your paintbrush to make thin lines and barely touch the bristles to the paper. Next you will demonstrate stippling using a paintbrush. You will take a small amount of paint and just dab your brush on the paper. Use only the tip of your paintbrush to create small dots and as you get your marks larger and closer together you can use the side of the brush for more broad dots. Try to make your small dots further apart and your larger dots closer together so you create a value fade from light to dark. Next to demonstrate long strokes I like to begin by twirling my brush in the paint to get a nice point on the tip of my brush. This helps me to make thinly painted lines. As I want to make my lines thicker I press down further with the bristles of the brush so that I can get a more broad stroke. You can see how the bristles fan out as it creates a broader stroke. Finally I would like you to create a smooth value fade using the color of your choice plus either white or black. Start with the lighter version of your color then add a dot of darker color and apply and create a gradual fade between the two. I began by mixing my purple with white because purple is already a very dark color but if you're starting with a lighter color like pink and then getting it darker you could start with pink and then add some black to your pink to make it darker. You may need to go back and forth to create a smooth fade. When finished make sure to put your name on your paper. If you want to further practice your brush control try painting your name but be sure to do it carefully.