Christmas Candy Ornament
Designed by Nancy Scott, CDA
This colorful Christmas ornament is easy to paint! Consider enlarging the design and putting it on an oval or round box and use it to present a Christmas gift for someone special on your list!
I am a CDA with the Society of Decorative Painters. I have been painting, designing, and teaching for over 30 years. I enjoy travel teaching and attending painting conventions. I especially like to teach beginners and pride myself in helping them learn the basics of decorative painting so they may have a good foundation from which to improve their painting skills.
Surface: Wood ornament available from Bear With Us. Item #2582
Paints: DecoArt Americana Acrylics
Deep Midnight Blue
Plantation Pine
Eggshell
Rookwood Red
Evergreen
Santa Red
Leaf Green
Scarlet
Lt. Buttermilk
Titanium White
Brushes: Royal & Langnickel Aqualon Series
R2150 Shader - size 10
R2160 Angle - sizes 1/2”, 1/4”, 1/8”
R2250 Round - size 2 R2170 Filbert - size 10
R2595 Liner - size 1
Bobbie's Blender Mop -RBOBBIE size small
Miscellaneous Supplies:
water basin, paper towels, palette, tracing paper, transfer paper, stylus (small tip), fine-grit sandpaper, a varnish of choice, coordinating ribbon (1/4” wide) color of choice.
Helpful Tip: When I have to make a lot of stylus dots, I put a tiny plop of the paint on the thumbnail of the hand that I don’t paint with. Then, instead of repeatedly having to go back and forth to my palette, I have my little “thumb” palette right there, oftentimes holding my piece as I make all my dots.
Preparation
Lightly sand ornament as necessary and wipe away any dust. Basecoat the oval with Rookwood Red. Paint the lacy areas with Santa Red. Transfer pattern leaving off details on candy. I would suggest transferring just a centerline for the pine branches and not all the individual needles.
Painting Instructions
Peppermint Candy
Basecoat circles with Lt. Buttermilk using the filbert. Now transfer on (lightly) the lines for the stripes. Paint the wide stripes with Santa Red. The narrow stripes are painted Leaf Green. Float shading of Rookwood Red on the outside edge of the wide stripes using the 1/4” angle. Using the 1/2” angle, float a soft shade of Deep Midnight Blue to separate the 2 pieces of candy and along the upper-right edge of the piece of candy on the right. To make this float soft enough, first, dampen the surface with clean water. Blend the Deep Midnight Blue on your palette several times, walking it away from the blending area to reduce the intensity of the color on your brush. Float the color on your pre-dampened surface, walk it out a bit, and mop to soften. Let dry. Repeat process, if necessary, to make it strong enough. It’s always a lot easier to strengthen a color with a 2nd application than it is to try and fix things if you get it too harsh. When satisfied with shading, use your liner and Titanium White to place a “shine” line thru the center of the candy. Leave a couple of “breaks” in the shine line so it is not one solid, continuous line.
Holly Leaves
Basecoat with Leaf Green. Float shading, using the 1/2” angle brush, and Evergreen. This is placed at the base of each leaf and to form a center vein area. Mix a lighter green with Lt. Buttermilk/Leaf Green (2:1) and with the 1/4” angle, float a highlight opposite the shaded vein area. Soften with a mop. Let dry and repeat. Add a little highlight to the upper-left edge of the 2 holly leaves on the left side. Using the liner and Evergreen, draw a couple of side veins thru the light side of each leaf.
Berries
Paint the berries with Santa Red using the #2 round. Float shading using Rookwood Red and the 1/8” angle. On the side opposite the shading, float a light value of Scarlet. Dry and repeat the highlight. Add a stylus (highlight) dot in the light area with Lt. Buttermilk/Scarlet (1:1).
Mistletoe
Basecoat with Eggshell. Float softly, using Plantation Pine, at the base of each mistletoe berry. Float a highlight along the top, outside edge with Lt. Buttermilk, using the 1/4” angle. Connect the berries to a common stem with Plantation Pine (lightened with a touch of Lt. Buttermilk).
Pine branches
Paint a center branch using the liner and Plantation Pine/ Lt. Buttermilk. Then paint the needles with the same color. Add a tiny bit more Lt. Buttermilk, for a lighter value green, and add a few more needles overtop the first ones. With a stylus and Lt. Buttermilk, add dots to put a little “frost” on the needles. The lacy top and bottom of the ornament are decorated with stylus dots of Scarlet. (Remember your thumbnail palette!).
Finishing
After adequate drying time, varnish as desired, following all manufacturer’s instructions. Hang with a coordinating ribbon and enjoy!
DOWNLOAD PDF LINE DRAWING HERE!
DOWNLOAD ORIGINAL PDF FILE HERE!
Pattern and Photos ©2020 Nancy Scott, CDA