Isn't she dreamy? I am so in love with this project and wish I could design an entire room around it! The Forest Armoire...
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Watch this week's Creating a Woodland Forest YouTube video.
I LOVE these simple armories from days past with their flat doors that allow so much space for creative freedom! I will admit this armoire started off with fall colors that just were not working for me! It's not what my heart wanted at all!
I DID know that I wanted Caviar and Fluff (black and white) warped checks on the center panel..... so I moved forward with that until I received a more clear vision.
I chose to go ahead and paint the entire piece in Caviar black.... which for some reason always opens my brain up for better ideas.
The solid color really helps me to see more clearly and find direction.
I've really been yearning to challenge myself with a painted scene and it wanted to create a magical forest.... my very own take on Wonderland. For those of you that have been around awhile you already know I may be sort of crazy for "all things Alice".
So, I turned to YouTube! I watched many people paint forests from Bob Ross to granny's sitting at their kitchen tables! I finally stumbled across an artist that seemed to be inside my own head! She was painting a scene on canvas and I knew it was exactly what I wanted on this armoire! I
watched the video one time, picked up my brushes and my favorite Dixie Belle paint colors and this piece happened!
No do overs..... no struggle.... just carefree painting! I loved learning to mix three colors of paint to get this "glow"!! That glow is what makes the magic so enticing!
I did this on both sides which is the beginning of a tunnel effect that seems to draw you into the forest and is just so captivating. I added foliage and the beginning of mushrooms and just continued to follow along with the artist.
I pulled from shades of blue and purples using Lucky Lavender, Aubergine and Bunker Hill Blue to build my very own forest of trees dripping with moss!
Once I was satisfied with my trees I sat on the floor with a tiny brush and used all my favorite bright colors like Honky Tonk Red, Plum Crazy, Flamingo and Daisy to bring those mushrooms to life!
And following the artist lead, I added the dreamy specks of watered down Daisy to create fireflies! All that was left was to deepen the outlines with more Caviar and to brighten the highlights with more Fluff!
I wanted to add the sparkle of gold to frame my Wonderland Forest Armoire and I did this with Gold Gilding Wax. I warmed it up just a bit and used a small brush to apply it to the trim around the doors, to the gorgeous front legs and my favorite accent, the beaded trim on the bottom of the drawers!
And finally.... I stepped back to see that my Wonderland Forest Armoire was complete!
I am so thankful for the guidance of Joni Young Art. She broke it down and made it so easy! I cannot wait to do this again and put my own twist on it! That is what is so wonderful about creative projects. No matter how difficult they look..... they can all be broken down to achievable steps that will have you feeling like a rock star! I tell you this to inspire you to step outside of your comfort zone and try something new! This is exactly why I've blogged every week for seven years! It's why I am actively building a YouTube video bank..... to break down the art of painting furniture for YOU! To show you step by step how to achieve specific looks! To inspire YOU to create! Thank you for being here with me.... week after week..... sharing in my joy of painting and trying new things!
XOXO, Tracey
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