top of page
Writer's pictureTracey Bengeyfield

Fancy trying an 'Arty'choke?

Here’s a little extra treat that all Tracey Bengeyfield Art members can enjoy!

In this Globe Artichoke project you can discover how to blend lots of lovely colour directly on the surface of the paper.


If you belong to the SAA (one of Europe’s largest online suppliers and champions of all things creative), you may have already come across the Step-By-Step tutorial for this very project within their magazine ‘Paint & Create’!





This project was, in fact, one that my students studied during my in-person classes a few years back when I taught under the guise of ‘Welcome to the Drawing Room’.


Over the past year I have been planning and releasing a number of 're-visits' to some of my previous tutorials (which initially were only worksheet-based). The Globe artichoke is my latest re-visit which I have been busy preparing for you in the background. The worksheet has now had a makeover and I have also created all new videos to accompany this project – so I do hope you will enjoy giving it a try!

Here I have worked using a larger than life scale, but feel free to work at the scale that suits you! We will work on each separate leaf (or bract) mixing and merging colour on the paper. You will build up each bract in turn adapting the colours as you move across the surface of the paper.


This project is great for improving your colour mixing confidence and for experimenting with your colours to discover new colour combinations - so feel free to explore your colour palette and adapt my suggested palette of colours. Don’t forget - you can create your own composition and even use your own photo resource which means once you’ve tried the techniques demonstrated in the videos, you will be able to create your own, personalised version.


If you would like to find out more about this project, take a look at this short video.



I have labelled this project as a 1 paintbrush for difficulty as I believe that even if you’re a beginner you will definitely be able to tackle this one. It will also give you an excellent opportunity to develop your blending techniques so that you achieve the right consistency of your paint (this is one of the best basic techniques you can learn!). As for painting time, I have awarded this a 2 out of 3 as there are quite a number of bracts to complete and you will need to wait until areas are dry.


If you enjoy this project, do keep your eyes open for the sister painting project 'Flowering Artichoke', which I hope to release int he furture! It will use the same basic techniques as you will use to apply colour to the bracts for this project, but it will also include a wider variety of techniques with the addition of the beautiful, thistle-like flowering head.


Happy Painting!

36 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page