Painting a Spring Garden Sign and Giveaway

Welcome. I am so glad that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea. Today we are going to look for inspiration for a Spring Welcome garden sign that we can paint together. The weather has been beautiful in Southern California and it seems like everything in early bloom in my garden is pink.



Bentley, my Studio Assistant, is already in the garden looking for inspiration for us to paint.





I have several pots of pink Hydrangeas that are in full bloom. The blue and white Hydrangeas have lots of buds but are not quite in bloom.

The old fashion fragrant geranium has tiny pink blooms.

The pink Geraniums love the sun and are in bloom.

"The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing". Isaiah 55:12

Hydrangeas are very easy for beginners to paint. Let' pick a few blooms and put them in a basket and get started painting.

Notice how many different colors there are on the blooms.

Here is a close up of the basket so you can get an idea of how to paint it.

I like to paint on an 8X10 100% cotton canvas as it will hold up out side, however, you can paint on a wood board or piece of slate that you can purchase at Joann's, Michael's or any craft store. I use acrylic paints. You are welcome to copy my drawing - in the past I have used my computer to print out sample font for the lettering - you can also purchase a CD with various samples of font to use for your lettering.

Notice that I drew the horizontal weave of the basket - it is important when you paint it that you paint the weave as shown on the real basket of Hydrangeas. I like to paint in the darks first.

I used Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna and Raw Umber. If you do not have these colors, don't worry - just use a light and dark brown. After I paint in the darks I go back with the same colors and lighten them up with a little white or yellow to get the look of the weave of the basket.

Notice how I painted the flowers in a dark color first - I used Alizrin Crimson and will later add white when I paint the actual petals. Your can use red and go back and add a little white to get the light colors of the petals. I also used a yellow/green mixed with white on some of the petals to get the variation on the petals. Hydrangeas have lots of groups of petals on the main flower - most have 5 per group of petals. I mixed my Crimson with white and highlighted some of the petal groups. Then I painted a little yellow/green center on the highlighted petals. Also add a little yellow or light brown to you leaf to give the look of the veins on the leaf.

The last step is to add a little shadow under the basket, varnish with 3 coats of non-yellowing matt acrylic varnish and attach screw hooks on the back and add a little ribbon and ENJOY.

SPRING THANK YOU GIVEAWAY

Giveaway -$100. Pottery Barn Gift Card and Welcome Garden painting of your choice.

To enter, please leave me a comment and let me know which garden sign you would like to receive with your gift card. You do not have to have a blog to enter - simply leave your comment under Anonymous. As a special THANK YOU to the followers of my blog your name will be entered twice. Just let me know when you leave a comment if you are a follower. The winner will be announced on March 25th.

If pink does not work in your garden, you can pick the other Spring garden sign shown below.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people in Japan. There is power in united prayer. Jesus said: "For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them." Matthew 18:20

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate you visits, E-mails, comments and those who follow my blog. I read and cherish each and every comment and e-mail. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see me paint something special.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin