Demonstration
Step 3
1 With your globe, base and optional label ready, draw your interior design. In this example I deliberately darkened the pencil to make it more visible, but normally
I would keep my pencil lines as pale as possible.
2 Begin by painting the sky. Lightly wet the sky with clean water; mine is slightly tinted here so you can see it. About one third up, paint light red, tinged with a touch of orange. While the red is still damp, apply lavender, not quite next to it and gently encourage the lavender to bleed slightly into the red.
Step 4
1 While the sky is still wet, finish with a dark mix of indigo and cobalt blue, which makes a lovely, velvety night sky. The progression of warm orange-red to dark blue helps create a sense of distance and makes a good backdrop for the snow.
2 Carefully paint around the bird, the branch and some of the berries. I used a No. 10 brush to put most of the colour in then, while it was still wet, used the No. 2 to move the paint up close to the edges. Don’t worry about back runs; they give the sky a wonderful, wintery feel.
Step 5
1 When the sky is dry, paint the wooden base. Let the first layer dry completely before progressing. Test the sky to be sure it is dry so that it does not bleed into the base.
Any streaks or crusts anywhere will be lost as you add snow and a wood pattern to the base in the next stage.
2 Using a brush with a fine point, lightly paint around the outer edge of the globe with lavender. Aim for a consistent, thin line.
If you are worried about not getting a thin enough line, you can strengthen the line with a very sharp crayon
(or coloured pencil) or just leave it in pencil.
3 Paint the robin’s breast with strong red, such as cadmium red, scarlet or vermilion. I like to add a touch of orange to my red to echo the sky.
4 Paint the berries in a variety of reds. You can leave a tiny highlight if desired so they are nice and shiny. Mix a little indigo with the red to push some of the berries into the background. Observe how the mix of the slightly oily indigo-cobalt blue and the lavender make for a lovely winter sky. Wait for the reds to dry.
Step 6
1 Add darker pattern to the wooden stand then paint the plumage of the robin.
I used Van Dyck brown and a tiny touch of black for the dark areas and yellow ochre mixed with white gouache for the tummy.
2 When the first layers are dry, add fine detail with the No. 0 brush. Paint the beak and the eye in black. 3 Over light areas in the sky, paint more twigs in dark brown. Over dark areas, mix the brown with white gouache to make it lighter and more opaque so that it will show up against the darker tones. 4 Leave a little unpainted paper on the branch to suggest a dusting of snow.
Step 7
1 Now for the magical moment! First of all, check that everything is completely dry then add those first few flakes of snow. Use a brush with a good point and make sure your white gouache is creamy in consistency, not too wet and not too dry. Always do the first few snowflakes on scrap paper to avoid blobs. Lightly touch the tip of your finest brush to the paper then lift off again. Continue adding tiny dots throughout your painting. Don’t space them too evenly, as a little variation is more natural. Be sure to have a couple of flakes over the robin’s red breast so that he looks really inside the globe. You can also add a little more snow to the twigs, if desired. Aim for less rather than more snow. Do a first pass then decide if more is needed. You can also add a square or two of reflected light on top and the bottom of the globe to make it more three dimensional.
2 For the label, lightly pencil in your title, if you want one. I always practise first on tracing paper to check my sizing and I always draw a pencil base line underneath the letters. Once you are happy with the lettering, you can paint it in. Alternatively, make a label on printer paper, cut it out and glue it on. This is the low-risk strategy if you are worried about the letters not fitting the label properly. Congratulations your first snow globe is done. You can now cross a name off your gift list. Hurray!